AUBURN, Ala. – Auburn women's tennis concluded the first two tournaments of its fall schedule on Sunday at the Kitty Harrison Invitational in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, and the Debbie Southern Fall Classic that was played in Clemson, South Carolina, on Sunday after the first two days in Greenville, South Carolina.
"I am pleased with the fight we exhibited across the board," said Auburn associate head coach Megan Falcon after the Kitty Harrison Invitational came to a close. "We learned a lot about ourselves this weekend. How we treat one another and how we treat ourselves will allow us to play better as the matches progress. Windows were earned and execution is the byproduct of quality work on the practice court."
In her first competition since May of 2022, Selin Ovunc posted three singles victories including a ranked win over No. 36 Emma Jackson of Duke over the weekend in Chapel Hill. Ovunc partnered with sophomore Kaitlyn Carnicella to win their doubles draw in the event by defeating Qavia Lopez and Malwina Rowinska on Friday, Emma Jackson and Karolina Berakova on Saturday, as well as Carson Tanguiling and Anika Yarlagadda on Sunday.
Carnicella bounced back from an opening loss to record three singles wins during the weekend over Jordan Cegarra of Penn State, Ruxi Schech and Lucia Aranda of Charlotte.
Auburn freshman Ava Esposito Cogan also picked up her first career doubles win at the event on Saturday as she and Clemson's Jenna Thompson took down the Penn State duo of Olivia Dorner and Yvonne Zuffova 8-4.
"Our opponents exposed some things this weekend and this is what we want out of competition," Auburn head coach Caroline Lilley said about Auburn's play in the Debbie Southern Fall Classic. "The fight was there, but as a coaching staff, we need to find better ways to prepare Adeline and Ali. There is more tennis to be played and we remain steadfast in finding the recipe we are looking for."
At the Debbie Southern Fall Classic hosted by Furman, Adeline Flach and Ali DeSpain fell in a close match to the 43rd ranked doubles team of Amelia Rajecki and Maddy Zampardo from NC State but came back to claim an 8-6 ranked victory over Brooke Killingsworth and Marcella Cruz of Wake Forest, the No. 31 doubles team in the country on Friday.
The Tiger duo recorded their second doubles consecutive doubles win of the tournament with an 8-6 victory over Kate Sharabura and Ruth Marsh of Georgia Tech while Flach also recorded a 6-3, 6-0 singles victory over Sophia Hatton from Clemson on Saturday.
Up next on the fall slate for the Tigers is the Fall Ranked Spotlight hosted by NC State on September 21st-24th in Cary, North Carolina.
Kitty Harrison Invitational
Friday Results:
Selin Ovunc (AUB) def. Reya Coe (NCSU) 6-1, 6-1
#89 Xinyu Cai (WIS) def. Ava Esposito Cogan (AUB) 3-6, 6-3, 10-5
Malwina Rowinska (UF) def. Kaitlyn Carnicella (AUB) 6-1, 6-2
Selin Ovunc (AUB) def. #36 Emma Jackson (DUKE) 6-2, 4-6, 12-10
Olivia Domer (PSU) def. Ava Esposito Cogan (AUB) 1-6, 6-3, 11-9
Kaitlyn Carnicella (AUB) def. Jordan Cegarra (PSU) 6-4, 4-6, 10-3
Selin Ovunc/Kaitlyn Carnicella (AUB) def. Qavia Lopez/Malwina Rowinska 8-6
Lucia Quiteri/Ruxi Schech (CHAR) def. Ava Esposito Cogan (AUB)/Jenna Thompson (CLEM) 8-5
Saturday Results:
Selin Ovunc/Kaitlyn Carnicella (AUB) def. Emma Jackson/Karolina Berakova (DUKE) 8-6
Selin Ovunc (AUB) def. Valeria Ray (VAN) 6-1, 7-6 (3)
Amy Stevens (VAN) def. Ava Esposito Cogan (AUB) 6-4, 6-4
Kaitlyn Carnicella (AUB) def. Ruxi Schech (CHAR) 6-4, 6-7 (7), 6-0
Ava Esposito Cogan (AUB)/Jenna Thompson (CLEM) def. Olivia Dorner/Yvonne Zuffova (PSU) 8-4
Sunday Results:
Selin Ovunc/Kaitlyn Carnicella (AUB) def. Carson Tanguiling/Anika Yarlagadda (UNC) 8-7 (9)
Bente Spee/ Emily De Oliveira (UF) def. Ava Esposito Cogan (AUB)/Jenna Thompson (CLEM) 8-7 (3)
Reese Brantmeier (UNC) def. Selin Ovunc (AUB) 2-6, 6-4, 6-3
Karolina Berankova (DUKE) def. Ava Esposito Cogan (AUB) 6-4, 7-5
Kaitlyn Carnicella (AUB) def. Lucia Aranda (CHAR) 6-2, 6-4
Debbie Southern Fall Classic
Friday Results:
Guillermina Grant (UGA) def. Adeline Flach (AUB) 6-4, 6-1
#43 Amelia Rajecki/Maddy Zampardo (NCST) def. Adeline Flach/Ali DeSpain (AUB) 8(7), 7(3)
Adeline Flach/Ali DeSpain (AUB) def. #31 Brooke Killingsworth/Marcella Cruz (WAKE) 8-6
Grace Thomas (FUR) def. Ali DeSpain (AUB) 6-2, 3-6, 7(9)-6(7)
Saturday Results:
Adeline Flach (AUB) def. Sophia Hatton (CLEM) 6-3, 6-0
Adeline Flach/Ali DeSpain (AUB) def. Kate Sharabura/Ruth Marsh (GT) 8-6
Ruth Marsh (GT) def. Ali DeSpain (AUB) 7-5, 6-4
Sunday Results:
Sara Snyder (FUR) def. Adeline Flach (AUB) 7(7)-6(3), 6-2
Macy Hitchcock (FUR) def. Ali DeSpain (AUB) 6-3, 6-1