FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – No. 16 Auburn will begin the 2023 postseason at the SEC Championship in Fayetteville, Arkansas on Thursday. The Tigers are set to face Ole Miss, which shutout Missouri 4-0 on Wednesday afternoon.
Auburn finished the regular season on Sunday with an 18-7 overall mark and with an 8-5 conference record, which earned a 5-seed in the championship. The Tigers have never won the SEC Championship in program history.
Auburn senior Carolyn Ansari received Auburn's first SEC player of the week honors on Tuesday. The Greensboro, North Carolina native recorded two ranked singles wins over the weekend and now has seven wins over ranked opponents this season, with four of them being in dual matches. Ansari's 2-6, 6-3, 6-2 comeback victory over Florida's Carly Briggs on Sunday was the senior's 75th career singles victory, which places her in a tie for ninth all-time in program history.
Ansari finished the regular season with an 18-12 singles record and a 16-14 doubles record overall. The 2022 all-SEC first team selection moved up 24 spots in the latest ITA singles rankings that were announced on Tuesday and is now ranked 19th in the nation in singles.
Ansari and partner Ariana Arseneault are currently ranked as the 30th best doubles team in the country. Arseneault recorded a 19-14 singles record and a 18-12 doubles record overall during the regular season. Arseneault reached a 14-9 singles mark in dual matches. The 2022 first team all-SEC selection has picked up 10 wins over ranked opponents on the singles court this season (six in dual matches) including a 6-2, 6-2 victory over then-No. 9 Ayana Akli of South Carolina and a 6-4, 6-3 win over then-No. 20 of Pepperdine. The Richmond Hill, Canada native finished the regular season with a singles ranking of 35th by the ITA.
Including Wednesday's victory, Ole Miss currently holds a 10-12 overall record and went 3-10 in conference matches this season. Rebel sophomore Ludmila Kareisova went 12-5 in dual singles matches this season and is the only Ole Miss player ranked in the ITA singles rankings at 50th.
Auburn won a close match at home over the Rebels during the regular season, when freshman Angella Okutoyi came through with the match clinching win over Ole Miss' Reka Zadori 6-4, 5-7, 7-6 (2) to deliver the 4-3 win for Auburn.
Thursday's match is scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. CT at the Billingsley Tennis Center in Fayetteville, Arkansas. Live video and live scoring of the match will be available online at ArkansasRazorbacks.com. If the Tigers are victorious over Ole Miss, they will face Florida in the quarterfinal round on Friday at 9 a.m.
