BATON ROUGE, La. – No. 14 Auburn concluded its regular season with a 4-0 shutout victory over 33rd ranked LSU on Sunday at the LSU Tennis Complex in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. With the win, Auburn finishes the regular season with a 15-9 overall record and a 9-4 record in conference play.
"Today was a great day and we finished the regular season strong," Auburn interim head coach Lester Cook said after the match. "The girls have battled through so much adversity this year and for them to play at such a high level despite the circumstances is a testament to how special this group is and we couldn't be more excited for the SEC Tournament."
Adeline Flach and Angella Okutoyi jumped out to a 4-1 lead on court two and won the next two games to earn a dominant 6-1 victory over Aran Teixido Garcia and Florentine Dekkers.
Ariana Arseneault and DJ Bennett were tied with No. 81 Kenna Erickson and Anita Sahdiieva 3-3 on court one, then pulled away to win 6-3 and claim the doubles point for the Tigers. The win marked the Auburn duo's ninth doubles victory of the season and the seventh against an SEC doubles team.
In singles, Auburn started strong with first set wins on four courts. Bennett and Carolyn Ansari were both tied at three in their respective opening sets before claiming them. Arseneault turned an early 4-2 advantage into a first set win on court three.
Arseneault closed out her opening match after a quick second set win. The senior's 6-2, 6-1 victory over Sahdiieva marked her 11th dual match win of the season.
Ansari bounced back from an early 2-1 second set deficit on court one by winning the next five consecutive games to defeat 109th ranked Florentine Dekkers 6-4, 6-2. Just minutes later, DJ Bennett picked up her team-leading 27th singles match of the season in straight sets to clinch the match win for the Tigers.
Auburn's 9-4 SEC record is tied for the fourth best in the conference with Tennessee. As a result, the team has earned a 5-seed in the SEC Tournament, which will begin on Wednesday. The Tigers will play the winner of 12-seed Kentucky and 13-seed Mississippi State on Thursday at 5 p.m. CT in Athens, Georgia.
#14 Auburn 4, #33 LSU 0
Singles Results:
1. #6 Carolyn Ansari (AUB) def. #109 Florentine Dekkers (LSU) 6-4, 6-2
2. #54 DJ Bennett (AUB) def. #91 Aran Teixido Garcia (LSU) 6-4, 6-3
3. #71 Ariana Arseneault (AUB) def. Anita Sahdiieva (LSU) 6-2, 6-1
4. Maya Tahan (LSU) vs. Angella Okutoyi (AUB) 6-2, 5-5, unfinished
5. Gaby Rivera (LSU) vs. Adeline Flach (AUB) 4-6, 3-5, unfinished
6. Kenna Erickson (LSU) vs. Ali Despain (AUB) 6-2, 1-6, 3-0, unfinished
Doubles Results:
1. #8 DJ Bennett/Ariana Arseneault (AUB) def. #81 Kenna Erickson/Anita Sahdiieva (LSU) 6-3
2. #46 Adeline Flach/Angella Okutoyi (AUB) def. Aran Teixido Garcia/Florentine Dekkers (LSU) 6-1
3. Gaby Rivera/Maya Tahan (LSU) vs. Ali Despain/Carolyn Ansari (AUB) 4-3, unfinished
Time of match: 2:13; Order of finish: Doubles: 2,1; Singles: 3,1,2; Official: Richie Weaver
No. 14 Women’s tennis shuts out LSU to finish regular season
