BERKELEY, Calif. – No. 17 Auburn ended its 2024 campaign with a 4-0 loss to California in the second round of the NCAA Championship on Saturday evening at the Hellman Tennis Complex in Berkeley, California. The Tigers narrowly lost a tightly contested doubles point before dropping three singles matches in straight sets.
The match was originally scheduled for noon PT, but was delayed due to rain before eventually beginning at 5 p.m. PT on a brisk and windy evening in the Bay Area. Auburn got off to a great start in doubles before another short rain delay ensued.
The delay did not stop the momentum of Auburn's top doubles team of Ariana Arseneault and DJ Bennett, who shut out Mao Mushika and Hann Viller Moeller 6-0. On courts two and three, California took early leads before the Tigers tied each match at four almost simultaneously. The Golden Bears earned a late break to win court three, which left the point to be decided at the No. 2 doubles position.
On court two, Angella Okutoyi and Adeline Flach were back after Okutoyi's unavailability during Friday's match. The Auburn duo led late in the match 6-5 before Jessica Alsola and Katja Wiersholm won a deciding point to force a tiebreaker. Alsola and Wiersholm got an early lead in the tiebreaker and ultimately won it to claim the doubles point for California.
With the momentum on the Golden Bears side, they kept it during the first set of singles play by taking early leads on most courts. After beginning the set down 3-1, senior Carolyn Ansari fought back in the against Valentina Ivanov with a late break to cut the deficit to 5-4 before dropping the set 6-4.
California converted its opening set leads into set wins on all six courts to put the pressure on the Tigers.
Tigers are battling in singles 🐅#WarEagle pic.twitter.com/SSE5AWZxS0
— Auburn Women's Tennis (@AuburnWTennis) May 5, 2024
The Golden Bears completed strong second sets to earn straight set victories on courts six and five to take a 3-0 lead in the match. Auburn then showed late life, with Arseneault taking a 4-1 lead in her second set against Katja Wiersholm.
Ivanov then claimed a victory on court one to clinch the team victory for California by a 6-4, 6-1 score.
With the loss, Auburn's season comes to a close with a 17-11 overall record which featured wins over No. 4 Georgia, No. 8 Florida, No. 15 Duke and a trip to the ITA National Team Indoor Championships. Auburn has now reached the second round of the NCAA Championship in four consecutive seasons.
#10 California 4, #17 Auburn 0
Singles Results:
1. #43 Valentina Ivanov (CAL) def. #9 Carolyn Ansari (AUB) 6-4, 6-1
2. #44 Hann Viller Moeller (CAL) vs. #64 DJ Bennett (AUB) 6-2, 3-3, unfinished
3. #49 Katja Wiersholm (CAL) vs. #90 Ariana Arseneault (AUB) 6-4, 1-4, unfinished
4. #81 Jessica Alsola (CAL) vs. Angella Okutoyi (AUB) 6-3, 4-3, unfinished
5. Berta Passola Folch (CAL) def. Adeline Flach (AUB) 6-3, 6-0
6. Lan Mi (CAL) def. Ava Esposito Cogan (AUB) 6-4, 6-1
Doubles Results:
1. #15 Ariana Arseneault/DJ Bennett (AUB) def. #18 Mao Mushika/Hann Viller Moeller (CAL) 6-0
2. #81 Jessica Alsola/Katja Wiersholm (CAL) def. #74 Adeline Flach/Angella Okutoyi (AUB) 7-6 (2)
3. Valentina Ivanov/Berta Passola (CAL) def. Carolyn Ansari/Ava Esposito Cogan (AUB) 7-5
Order of finish: Doubles: 1,3,2; Singles: 6,5,1