COLUMBIA, S.C. – No. 13 Auburn dropped its second road match of the weekend on Sunday to No. 19 South Carolina by a 5-2 score at the Carolina Tennis Center in Columbia. Auburn won its 10th doubles point of the year and sophomore DJ Bennett claimed her seventh consecutive singles victory in the team loss.
Auburn began the match strong in doubles, jumping out to a 3-1 lead on court one and a 3-0 lead on court two. Selin Ovunc and Carolyn Ansari then won their sixth doubles match of the season by a 6-1 score on court two. Moments later, the Tigers' top doubles team of Bennett and Ariana Arseneault fought off a comeback from No. 41 Ayana Akli and Sarah Hamner to win 7-5 and claim the doubles point for the Tigers.
The Gamecocks got off to a hot start in singles, taking the early lead on four courts in the opening set. South Carolina claimed the first set on each court except court three, where Bennett and No. 125 Shahar Biran traded games late in the set to enter a tiebreaker that Bennett won 7-4.
South Carolina then finished off straight set victories on courts one, two and six to take a 3-1 lead. After falling behind 4-3 in the second set, Bennett won the next three consecutive games over Biran for a 7-6 (4), 6-4 win and her 12th singles dual match victory of the season to cut the deficit to 3-2.
The Gamecocks clinched the team victory on court four, where Selin Ovunc and Elise Mills traded sets to set up a decisive third set. The two were tied 3-3 in the third set before South Carolina's Mills pulled away to win the match 6-4, 1-6, 6-4.
Adeline Flach dropped her first set to Misa Malkin on court five but bounced back by coming back to win her second set 6-3. With the team results decided, Malkin ultimately won the match in three sets to make the final score 5-2.
Up next, Auburn will remain on the road against Ole Miss on Friday. The match will begin at 3 p.m. CT at the Palmer/Salloum Tennis Center in Oxford, Mississippi.
#19 South Carolina 5, #13 Auburn 2
Singles Results:
1. #8 Ayana Akli (SC) def. #14 Carolyn Ansari (AUB) 6-4, 6-1
2. #10 Sarah Hamner (SC) def. #70 Ariana Arseneault (AUB) 6-2, 7-6 (5)
3. #64 DJ Bennett (AUB) def. #125 Shahar Biran (SC) 7-6 (4), 6-4
4. Elise Mills (SC) def. Selin Ovunc (AUB) 6-4, 1-6, 6-4
5. Misa Malkin (SC) def. Adeline Flach (AUB) 6-3, 3-6, 6-3
6. Olympe Lancelot (SC) def. Ali DeSpain (AUB) 6-3, 6-2
Doubles Results:
1. #19 Ariana Arseneault/DJ Bennett (AUB) def. #41 Ayana Akli/Sarah Hamner (SC) 7-5
2. Carolyn Ansari/Selin Ovunc (AUB) def. Shahar Biran/Elise Mills (SC) 6-1
3. Olympe Lancelot/Misa Malkin (SC) vs. Adeline Flach/Ali DeSpain (AUB) 6-5, unfinished
Order of finish: Doubles: 2,1; Singles: 1,2,6,3,4,5
