TAMPA, Fla. – No. 11 Women's tennis shut out South Florida by a 7-0 score on Sunday at the USF Varsity Tennis Courts in Tampa. The Tigers claimed the doubles point and won five of the six singles matches in straight sets to earn the dominating team victory.
"Today was a great match to bounce back from the loss against Pepperdine," said Auburn head coach Lester Cook. "The team did a great job of coming out with good energy and cheering hard for each other. February was a really tough month of travel and matches, so we're happy to end on a good note and we're looking forward to gettting the SEC matches started"
USF gained the early advantage in the doubles point, clinching a 6-4 win on court two after taking an early lead in the match. Auburn commanded early leads on each of the other two courts, leading both 3-1 at one point. The top Tiger doubles team of Ariana Arseneault and DJ Bennett went on to win 6-4 and a few moments later, Carolyn Ansari and Selin Ovunc earned their third straight doubles match by the same score to claim the doubles point.
The Tigers wasted no time in singles, jumping out to quick opening set leads on all six courts. Bennett ran away with her first set against Senli 6-0, then quickly claimed the second set 6-1 to increase Auburn's lead to 2-0. The win marks Bennett's team-leading 16th singles win of the season.
A few moments after Bennett's win, Angella Okutoyi earned a straight-set victory of her own over Falceto Font. After winning a close opening set on court five, freshman Ava Esposito Cogan began her second set leading 3-1 over Vargas and never looked back, winning the next three consecutive games to defeat Vargas 7-5, 6-1 and clinch the team victory for Auburn.
After the team win was secured, Arseneault and Anasri each finished off straight-set victories on courts two and one, respectively. Ansari improved her dual singles record to 6-2 while Arseneault earned her fourth dual singles win of the 2023-24 campaign.
Senior Adeline Flach split sets with Pawar to move the match into a 10-point tiebreaker on court three. Flach won the tiebreaker 10-5 to complete the shutout for the Tigers.
The win moves the Tigers above .500 with a 6-5 record before SEC opening weekend. Auburn will begin its Southeastern Conference schedule at home on Friday afternoon at 3 p.m. CT against Kentucky at the Yarbrough Tennis Center. Live video and live scoring of the match will be available online at AuburnTigers.com.
#11 Auburn 7, USF 0
Singles Results:
1. #16 Carolyn Ansari (AUB) def. Grace Schumacher (USF) 7-5, 6-2
2. #73 Ariana Arseneault (AUB) def. Melisa Senli (USF) 6-2, 7-5
3. #77 DJ Bennett (AUB) def. Marta Falceto Font (USF) 6-0, 6-1
4. #105 Angella Okutoyi (AUB) def. Kelly Vargas (USF) 6-2, 6-0
5. Ava Esposito Cogan (AUB) def. Gargi Pawar (USF) 7-5, 6-1
6. Adeline Flach (AUB) def. Ireland Simme (USF) 7-5, 6-8, 1-0 (5)
Doubles Results:
1. Ariana Arseneault/DJ Bennett (AUB) def. Nadja Bay Christians/Grace Schumacher (USF) 6-4
2. Marta Falceto Font/Ireland Simme (USF) def. Angella Okutoyi/Adeline Flach (AUB) 6-3
3. Selin Ovunc/Carolyn Ansari (AUB) def. Melisa Senli/Kelly Vargas (USF) 6-4
Time of match: 2:50; Order of finish: Doubles: 2,1,3; Singles: 3,4,5,2,1,6
