AUBURN, Ala. – No. 14 Auburn will host Texas Tech and South Alabama in its first home dual matches of the season on Sunday. The Tigers will battle Texas Tech at 11 a.m. CT and are scheduled to play South Alabama at 3 p.m. CT at the Yarbrough Tennis Center.
Auburn will enter the Sunday doubleheader with a two-match winning streak from ITA Kickoff Weekend in Durham, North Carolina. In Durham, the Tigers defeated Denver and No. 15 Duke to qualify for the 2024 ITA Indoor Team Championships.
Sophomore DJ Bennett's standout performance at the event earned her the season's first SEC Player of the Week honors on Wednesday. Bennett won each of her singles matches in straight sets and her win over 74th ranked Ellie Coleman secured the team win over Duke. She and Adeline Flach also clinched the doubles point in the match against Duke. Bennett is 12-6 overall in singles and holds a 14-4 overall doubles record this season.
Carolyn Ansari and Ariana Arseneault will also enter Sunday's doubleheader hot, as both Tigers won their respective singles matches in straight sets. Ansari took down Andrea Beltran of Denver and 65th ranked Shavit Kimchi of Duke at the No. 1 position while Arseneault defeated Denver's Britt Pursell and Duke's Emma Jackson in the No. 2 position.
Texas Tech's record is currently 1-2 after the team's ITA Kickoff Weekend featured back-to-back losses to ranked opponents No. 11 Virginia and No. 24 Wisconsin in Charlottesville, Virginia. Sunday's match will be the second portion of a home-and-home with the Red Raiders, as the Tigers won a dramatic road match 4-3 last season in Lubbock, Texas.
In the ITA individual rankings, Texas Tech's Cristina Tiglea is ranked 69th in singles while Metka Komac and Avelina Sayfetdinova are the fifth ranked doubles team in the country. Komac and Sayfetdinova hold a 9-2 overall doubles record this season.
South Alabama has a perfect 3-0 record this season, with shutout wins over West Alabama, Florida A&M and West Florida to begin the season. The Tigers and Jaguars have played each other 19 times in program history, with Auburn holding a 10-9 advantage in the all-time series. Sunday's match will mark the first time the in-state foes have faced off in a dual match since 2007.
Admission to both matches at the Yarbrough Tennis Cener will be free and fans will be given free pizza in between the two matches while supplies last. Live streaming video and live stats of each match will be available online at AuburnTigers.com
