CORAL GABLES, Fla. – No. 18 Auburn defeated No. 36 FIU in the first round of the NCAA Championships by a 4-3 score on Friday. With the match tied at three, Freshman DJ Bennett's 6-3, 2-6, 6-3 win delivered the team victory for the Tigers.
"A resounding team response in singles," Auburn head coach Caroline Lilley said after the dramatic win. "We play a specific style of doubles and every doubles point we run out of time in, we know it just makes us that much better. When you are throwing the house at someone to find solutions, win or lose, you walk off the court with your head held high. This is a business trip for us as we pound the stone to seek progress."
A look at DJ Bennett coming in clutch to send Auburn to the second round 😤#WarEagle pic.twitter.com/Xo1kJl9VqN
— Auburn Women's Tennis (@AuburnWTennis) May 5, 2023
The match got off to a difficult start for Auburn after losing the doubles point, although Auburn's top doubles team of Ariana Arseneault and Carolyn Ansari defeated the 83rd ranked doubles team of Ekaterina Khairutdinova and Kamila Umarova 6-4 for their 10th dual doubles win of the season.
The Tigers got the momentum back in singles by claiming the first set on four courts and losing the first set on both other courts in a tiebreaker. Angella Okutoyi, who was playing No. 4 in the Auburn lineup for the second time this season, tied the match by defeating Kamila Umarova in dominating fashion 6-4, 6-0.
A few moments later, Ariana Arseneault picked up her 16th dual singles win of the year on court one with a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Yasmine Kabbaj. Adeline Flach also won her match in two sets after taking the second set in a tiebreaker to give Auburn a 3-1 advantage.
The momentum began to turn back towards the Panthers with a couple of two-set victories, as Katerina Mandelikova defeated Kaitlyn Carnicella and Oyinlomo Quadre took down Carolyn Ansari to tie the match 3-3.
The singles match on court three between Bennett and Ekaterina Khairutdinova, both freshmen, was the only match that required a third set. Bennett claimed her 17th dual singles win of the season as well as her eighth consecutive singles victory to send Auburn to the second round of the NCAA Championships.
The Tigers will make their 10th appearance in the second round of the NCAA Championships in program history on Saturday at noon CT against No. 15 Miami. Live video and live scoring of the match will be available at miamihurricanes.com.
#18 Auburn 4, #36 FIU 3
Singles results:
1. #32 Ariana Arseneault (AUB) def. Yasmine Kabbaj (FIU) 6-3, 6-3
2. Oyinlomo Quadre (FIU) def. #23 Carolyn Ansari (AUB) 7-6 (7-3), 7-5
3. DJ Bennett (AUB) def. E. Khairutdinova (FIU) 6-3, 2-6, 6-3
4. Angella Okutoyi (AUB) def. Kamila Umarova (FIU) 6-4, 6-0
5. Katerina Mandelikova (FIU) def. Kaitlyn Carnicella (AUB) 7-6 (7-2), 6-3
6. Adeline Flach (AUB) def. Salma Loudili (FIU) 6-3, 7-6 (7-0)
Doubles results:
1. #31 Carolyn Ansari/Ariana Arseneault (AUB) def. #83 Ekaterina Khairutdinova/Kamila Umarova (FIU) 6-4
2. #85 Yasmine Kabbaj/Oyinlomo Quadre (FIU) def. DJ Bennett/Kaitlyn Carnicella (AUB) 6-3
3. Salma Loudili/Katerina Mandelikova (FIU) def. Adeline Flach/Angella Okutoyi (AUB) 6-4
Order of finish: Doubles: 3,1,2; Singles: 4,1,6,5,2,3