COLLEGE STATION, Texas – After a promising start to the match, No. 14 women's tennis fell in a road match to 11th ranked Texas A&M by a 6-1 score in College Station on Friday evening. Auburn claimed the doubles point against the Aggies before dropping the match in singles.
The Tigers began the doubles point strong. Adeline Flach and Angella Okutoyi jumped out to a 3-1 advantage on court two and held that lead to a 6-3 win. The victory marked the duo's seventh consecutive doubles win.
Carolyn Ansari and Ali DeSpain, who were paired together for the first time this season, also began their match on court three with an early advantage. With the match tied at three, Ansari and DeSpain took a 4-3 lead and held it to win 6-4 and claim the doubles point for the Tigers.
The Aggies got the momentum back by taking early 2-0 leads on five of the six courts to begin the opening sets. Ariana Arseneault was the lone Tiger to win an opening set, defeating No. 44 Mia Kupres 6-1 in the first frame.
DJ Bennett suffered just her sixth dual match loss of the season in straight sets to No. 19 Nicole Khirin just a few moments before Mary Stoiana, the top singles player in the nation, took down Ansari to give Texas A&M a 2-1 lead.
After dropping the initial set, Flach held a 5-2 lead over Jeanette Mireles but ultimately dropped the match. DeSpain stayed in a second set fight with Daria Smetannikov and led late in the set 5-4 before Smetannikov bounced back to win the match 6-4, 7-5 and clinch the team victory for the Aggies.
After the team win was secured, Texas A&M claimed both court three and court four to make the final score 6-1.
With the loss, Auburn drops to 14-9 overall and 8-4 in the SEC, which currently places them in a three-way tie for fourth place in the conference standings.
The Tigers will conclude the regular season on Sunday against LSU at noon CT in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Live video and live scoring of the match will be available online at LSUsports.net.
#11 Texas A&M 6, #14 Auburn 1
Singles Results:
1. #1 Mary Stoiana (TAMU) def. #6 Carolyn Ansari (AU) 6-1, 6-2
2. #19 Nicole Khirin (TAMU) def. #54 DJ Bennett (AU) 6-2, 6-0
3. #44 Mia Kupres (TAMU) def. #71 Ariana Arseneault (AU) 1-6, 7-6 (7-1), 6-0
4. Lucciana Perez (TAMU) def. Angella Okutoyi (AU) 6-3, 5-7, 6-3
5. Jeanette Mireles (TAMU) def. Adeline Flach (AU) 6-3, 7-5
6. Daria Smetannikov (TAMU) def. Ali DeSpain (AU) 6-4, 7-5
Doubles Results:
1. #4 Mary Stoiana/Mia Kupres (TAMU) vs. #8 Ariana Arseneault/DJ Bennett (AU) 4-4, unfinished
2. #46 Angella Okutoyi/Adeline Flach (AU) def. Jeanette Mireles/Lucciana Perez (TAMU) 6-3
3. Carolyn Ansari/Ali DeSpain (AU) def. Nicole Khirin/Sydney Fitch (TAMU) 6-4
Order of finish: Doubles: 2,3; Singles: 2,1,5,6,3,4