SEATTLE – No. 14 Auburn suffered a second straight loss on Saturday evening at the ITA National Team Indoor Championships. The Tigers fell 4-1 to Texas A&M in a consolation match at the event. Auburn's lone point came from Angella Okutoyi, who delivered a straight-set singles victory on court four.
Selin Ovunc and Carolyn Ansari began the doubles point hot, starting off with a 3-0 advantage over Sydney Fitch and Gianna Pielet. The Auburn duos on courts one and two began with deficits of 3-1 and 4-2, respectively. The Tigers then suffered a 6-1 loss to Mia Kupres and Mary Stoiana, the third-ranked doubles team in the country, on court one.
On court two, DJ Bennett and Adeline Flach battled back to cut the match deficit to 5-4, but ultimately lost the match 6-4 to give Texas A&M the doubles point. Ovunc and Ansari had maintained their lead on court three, which was abandoned with the Auburn pair leading 5-2.
In singles, Okutoyi never trailed in her opening set against Lucciana Perez and won it 6-2 while the Aggies claimed the first set on all five other courts.
No. 61 Ariana Arseneault's match against No. 32 Nicole Khirin became the first match to finish, with Khirin claiming a 6-3, 6-4 victory for the Aggies in a match that lasted just over one hour. Moments later, Texas A&M won another match in straight sets on court six to take a 3-0 advantage.
With the Aggies just one singles match win away from a team victory, Okutoyi came back from trailing her second set 2-0 to win her match 6-2, 6-3 on court four to give Auburn its first team point. The win marks Okutoyi's third singles dual match victory of the season.
. @Okutoyiangella2 gets Auburn on the board with its first singles win of the night 👊
— Auburn Women's Tennis (@AuburnWTennis) February 11, 2024
Tigers trail 3-1#WarEagle pic.twitter.com/fh1V6Fij12
After Okutoyi's match came to an end, Selin Ovunc won a dominant second set over Daria Smetannikov 6-2 and forced a third set on court five. The team match ended on court three, where No. 24 Mia Kupres defeated No. 43 DJ Bennett to clinch the team win for Texas A&M.
No. 31 Carolyn Ansari's match against top-ranked Mary Stoiana was abandoned with Stoiana leading 6-3, 5-4.
With the win, Texas A&M moves above .500 with a 5-4 record while Auburn drops to 4-3 this season. Auburn will play its final match of the ITA National Team Indoor Championships on Sunday. The opponent and time of the match is still to be determined, but live video and live scoring of the match will be available online at wearecollegetennis.com.
#9 Texas A&M 4, #14 Auburn 1
Singles Results:
1. #1 Mary Stoiana (TAMU) vs. #13 Carolyn Ansari (AUB) 6-3, 5-4, unfinished
2. #32 Nicole Khirin (TAMU) def. #61 Ariana Arseneault (AUB) 6-3, 6-4
3. #24 Mia Kupres (TAMU) def. #43 DJ Bennett (AUB) 6-1, 7-5
4. Angella Okutoyi (AUB) def. Lucciana Perez (TAMU) 6-2, 6-3
5. Daria Smetannikov (TAMU) vs. #104 Selin Ovunc (AUB) 6-4, 2-6, unfinished
6. Jeanette Mireles (TAMU) def. Ava Esposito Cogan (AUB) 6-2, 6-4
Doubles Results:
1. #3 Mia Kupres/Mary Stoiana (TAMU) def. Ariana Arseneault/Angella Okutoyi (AUB) 6-1
2. Nicole Khirin/Lucciana Perez (TAMU) def. DJ Bennett/Adeline Flach (AUB) 6-4
3. Sydney Fitch/Gianna Pielet (TAMU) vs. Selin Ovunc/Carolyn Ansari (AUB) 2-5, unfinished
Time of match: 2:17; Order of finish: Doubles: 1,2; Singles: 2,6,4,3