AUBURN, Ala. – No. 12 Auburn defeated Kentucky 5-2 at home in the 2024 SEC opener on Friday afternoon at the Yarbrough Tennis Center. The Tigers mounted a comeback to win the doubles point and tacked on four singles victories in the team's first home match since Feb. 4.
"We really had a lot of anticipation going into this match because we were just trying to get through last month, and now to have the SEC schedule here is really exciting," Auburn head coach Lester Cook said after the victory. "This was a great way to start. Kentucky is a good team. They're ranked 57th but they play at a higher level than what they're ranked right now.
"It was a tough match. It didn't start so great in singles, but we figured out how to battle back and they did a good job of just competing today."
The match began with three very competitive doubles matches. Down 3-2 at one point to Lidia Gonzalez and Ellie Edes, the top Auburn doubles team of Ariana Arseneault and DJ Bennett fought back to tie the match at four before claiming the next two games for a 6-4 win.
Kentucky won 6-4 on court three moments later, setting up a winner-take-all match for the doubles point on court two. Angella Okutoyi and Adeline Flach were trailing 4-5 on court two when it became final doubles match remaining, but the Tiger duo caught fire and won the next three consecutive games to pick up a 7-5 win and the doubles point. Okutoyi and Flach's victory was their first of the season.
While the top two singles courts featured quick opening set victories for Auburn, the Tigers got off to a slow start on the other four courts, dropping the first set on all four.
Carolyn Ansari earned a quick 6-1, 6-1 win on court one over Elizabeth Stevens to increase her singles winning streak to three and improve her dual match singles record to 6-2. Arseneault was not far behind her teammate, earning her eighth singles win of the season in straight sets over Lidia Gonzalez to give Auburn a 3-0 lead and put the team within one singles win away from clinching a team victory.
Kentucky won court six in straight sets to slash the deficit to 3-1 and all three remaining matches entered a third set. After dropping her first set to Ellie Eades, Bennett came roaring back in the next two sets, winning ten consecutive games over the next two sets to win the match 4-6, 6-1, 6-0 and clinch the SEC opening win for the Tigers.
Angella Okutoyi also came back from dropping her opening set to defeat Zoe Hammond 2-6, 6-1, 7-5 for her sixth singles win of the spring.
Auburn will return to the Yarbrough Tennis Center on Sunday to face Vanderbilt at noon CT. Sunday will be Kids Day on the courts and all fans will receive a free Auburn women's tennis pair of sunglasses while supplies last. Live video and live scoring of the match will be available online at AuburnTigers.com.
#12 Auburn 5, #57 Kentucky 2
Singles Results:
1. #16 Carolyn Ansari (AUB) def. Elizabeth Stevens (UK) 6-1, 6-1
2. #73 Ariana Arseneault (AUB) def. Lidia Gonzalez (UK) 6-3, 6-2
3. #77 DJ Bennett (AUB) def. Ellie Eades (UK) 4-6, 6-1, 6-0
4. #105 Angella Okutoyi (AUB) def. Zoe Hammond (UK) 2-6, 6-1, 7-5
5. Julia Zhu (UK) def. Selin Ovunc (AUB) 6-2, 3-6, 7-5
6. Ellie Myers (UK) def. Adeline Flach (AUB) 7-6 (9-7), 6-0
Doubles Results:
1. Ariana Arseneault/DJ Bennett (AUB) def. Lidia Gonzalez/Ellie Eades (UK) 6-4
2. Angella Okutoyi/Adeline Flach (AUB) def. Makayla Mills/Elizabeth Stevens (UK) 7-5
3. Zoe Hammond/Ellie Myers (UK) def. Carolyn Ansari/Selin Ovunc (AUB) 6-4
Time of match: 3:16; Order of finish: Doubles: 1,3,2; Singles: 1,2,6,3,4,5; Official: Donna Jerome
