New coaching era begins with pair of wins for women’s tennis

UAB Box Score North Alabama Box Score
New coaching era begins with pair of wins for women’s tennisNew coaching era begins with pair of wins for women’s tennis
David Gray/Auburn Tigers

AUBURN, Ala. – The Jordan Szabo coaching era at Auburn began with two wins on Saturday, as the Tigers defeated both North Alabama and UAB by 6-1 final scores at the Yarbrough Tennis Center in Auburn, Alabama.

“It's always exciting to win, I've never had a bad win,” Auburn head coach Jordan Szabo said after the doubleheader. “The goal of the end of the day was to be 2-0 and that's what we are. I think we've been practicing really well and we've made improvements in our game. Playing these dual matches, it's tough. I'm happy that we were able to fight through some of the nerves and pressures of college tennis.

“I think it was a job completed today, and I definitely think we'll be better for it the rest of this weekend, the rest of the season and hopefully we can learn some lessons from today's matches. I thought the doubles in the second match was way better. We got challenged in the first one and didn't really live up to the standard that that we know we can produce. And I anticipate we're going to only get better with every match.”

On court one, NCAA Doubles Championship semifinalists DJ Bennett and Ava Hrastar came out strong, jumping out to a 5-0 lead over Stanislava Bobrovnikova and Anoek Pruijmboom before ultimately winning 6-1. The Tigers struggled on the other two courts, dropping both of them to lose the doubles point to the Lions.

Auburn bounced back in singles, as DJ Bennett dominated in her 13th singles win of the season by a 6-1, 6-0 score on court one. After winning her first set 6-2, freshman Merna Refaat breezed through her second set to earn her first victory in a collegiate dual match. Angella Okutoyi also served a donut in her second set, defeating Eeva Ristola 6-2, 6-0 to give Auburn a 3-0 advantage.

Graduate student Ava Hrastar jumped out to a 3-1 lead in her opening set against Emma Ansorge on court two before claiming the set 6-2 and dominating the second set 6-0 to clinch the first win of the season for the Tigers. Ava Esposito also won her match in straight sets on court five, besting Mathilde Delaney 6-1, 6-4.

In her first ever collegiate competition, freshman Maria Garcia started by winning five consecutive games over Pruijmboom before claiming the first set and led the second set 2-1 before Pruijmboom came back to force a tiebreaker. Garcia prevailed in the 10-point tiebreaker 10-6 to pick up her first singles win at Auburn.

The Tigers looked much stronger in the doubles during the second match of the doubleheader against UAB. Bennett and Hrastar again dominated on the top doubles court, winning 6-1. Garcia and Esposito then won their first win as doubles partners on court three over Enya Ratkic and Kristyna Damaskova 6-4 to clinch the doubles point.

In singles, Bennett and Vanessa Mellynchuk were tied 1-1 in the opening set before Bennett won the next 11 consecutive to earn a convincing 6-1, 6-0 win and give Auburn a 2-0 lead. Okutoyi dominated on court two to pick up a 6-0, 6-1 victory.

After falling behind 4-2 in the first set to Enya Ratkic, Esposito bounced back to win the next four consecutive games to claim the first set and ultimately win the match 6-4, 6-1. Refaat also earned a straight set victory on court three over Klara Kajabova 6-4, 6-1.

Garcia dropped a tight 10-point tiebreaker to Mackenzie White on court five while Emma Tothova picked up her first collegiate dual match win on court six over Nera Tesankick 7-6 (3), 6-4.

Auburn will be back in action at home on Sunday against Tuskegee in a match that will begin at 11 a.m. as well as on Monday for a doubleheader against Western Carolina at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. All matches at the Yarbrough Tennis Center are free to the public and fans will be treated to warm drinks and donuts on Monday while supplies last. Live video and live scoring of all three matches will be available online at AuburnTigers.com.

 

 

#12 Auburn 6, North Alabama 1

Singles Results:

  1. #2 DJ Bennett (AUB) def. S. Bobrovnikova (UNA) 6-1, 6-0
  2. #69 Ava Hrastar (AUB) def. Emma Ansorge (UNA) 6-2, 6-0
  3. #110 Angella Okutoyi (AUB) def. Eeva Ristola (UNA) 6-2, 6-0
  4. #22 Merna Refaat (AUB) def. Ada Karabacak (UNA) 6-2, 6-0
  5. Ava Esposito (AUB) def. Mathilde Delaney (UNA) 6-1, 6-4
  6. Maria Garcia (AUB) def. Anoek Pruijmboom (UNA) 6-1, 2-6 [10-6]

Doubles Results:

  1. #16 DJ Bennett/Ava Hrastar (AUB) def. S. Bobrovnikova/Anoek Pruijmboom (UNA) 6-1
  2. Eeva Ristola/Ada Karabacak (UNA) def. #97 Angella Okutoyi/Merna Refaat (AUB) 7-5
  3. Mathilde Delaney/Emma Ansorge (UNA) def. Ava Esposito/Maria Garcia (AUB) 7-5

Time of match: 2:14; Order of finish: Doubles: 1,2,3; Singles: 1,4,3,2,5,6; Official: Donna Jerome

 

#12 Auburn 6, UAB 1

Singles Results:

  1. #2 DJ Bennett (AUB) def. Vanessa Mellynchuk (UAB) 6-1, 6-0
  2. #69 Angella Okutoyi (AUB) def. Kristyna Damaskova (UAB) 6-0, 6-1
  3. #110 Merna Refaat (AUB) def. Klara Kajabova (UAB) 6-4, 6-1
  4. #22 Ava Esposito (AUB) def. Enya Ratkic (UAB) 6-4, 6-2
  5. Mackenzie White (UAB) def. Maria Garcia (AUB) 6-4, 2-6 [10-7]
  6. Emma Tothova (AUB) def. Nera Tesankic (UAB) 7-6 (3), 6-4

Doubles Results:

  1. #16 DJ Bennett/Ava Hrastar (AUB) def. Mackenzie White/Vanessa Mellynchuk (UAB) 6-1
  2. #97 Angella Okutoyi/Merna Refaat (AUB) vs. Nera Tesankic/Klara Kajabova (UAB) 5-3, unfinished
  3. Maria Garcia/Ava Esposito (AUB) def. Enya Ratkic/Kristyna Damaskova (UAB) 6-4

Time of Match: 2:32; Order of finish: Doubles: 1,3; Singles: 1,2,3,4,5,6; Official: Donna Jerome