Upset complete: No. 10 Auburn shocks No. 3 Oklahoma State at home

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Upset complete: No. 10 Auburn shocks No. 3 Oklahoma State at homeUpset complete: No. 10 Auburn shocks No. 3 Oklahoma State at home
David Gray/Auburn Tigers

AUBURN, Ala- No. 10 Women’s tennis upset No. 3 Oklahoma State by a 4-0 score on Saturday afternoon in front of nearly 250 supporters at the Yarbrough Tennis Center. The win marks the highest ranked win since 2007 for Auburn and extended its winning streak to eight to begin the Jordan Szabo coaching era.

The Tigers claimed the doubles point and claimed singles wins on courts six, five and three to complete the shutout. Junior Angella Okutoyi came back from losing her opening set to win and clinch the historic team victory.

“I think it’s just validation that we’re doing the right things,” said Coach Szabo. “We try and be very professional every day, work hard with the girls and do the right things day in and day out. We preach that you'll get good results because of it and hopefully this adds a little bit more fuel to the fire.

“The girls competed really hard today. I don't think we necessarily played our best tennis, which is very encouraging, but they competed well. I think the physical and mental toughness from the practices paid off when it mattered. Very proud of the girls, they deserve all the credit.”

Ava Esposito and Alice Battesti wasted no time in the doubles, blanking Kylie Collins and Alian Zach 6-0 to set the tone early. The pair now have a 6-2 doubles record together this season. On court two, Oklahoma State’s Gracie Epps and Marcela Lopez took an early 4-1 lead on Okutoyi and Merna Refaat. The Auburn duo fought back with three straight games to tie the match at five highlighted by a crucial hold on an Okutoyi serve game.

Okutoyi and Refaat won a deciding point to pick up a break in the next game and went on to win the match 7-5 and clinch the doubles point for the Tigers.

Neither team had a clear advantage to begin singles play, as each side claimed three opening set wins. Auburn won the opening set on both court five and court six, and the lower singles courts proved to be pivotal in the match.

“Alice (Battesti) is playing her first dual matches so it’s very impressive to get off the court that quickly and Ava (Esposito) was here last year, but she didn't get to play a whole lot, so she's really improved as a player,” Szabo said about the singles wins on the lower two courts. “After losing the second set, it would have been really easy for her to go down, and she really built a lead and did a good job out there. I think Pete (Francis) did a great job helping her get refocused on the things that help you play good tennis.

“There were potentially some question marks on our team at the lower part of the lineup just with a little bit of inexperience, and these experiences will help us going forward for the rest of the season, next weekend and the rest of their careers.”

Battesti, a freshman, claimed a straight set win in just her third collegiate dual match on Saturday, defeating Alian Zach 6-4, 6-1. On court five, Marcela Lopez came back from being shut out in the opening set by winning the next 6-3 over Esposito to force a decisive third set. Esposito bounced back by winning the third set convincingly to put the Tigers within one point of the upset.

When the score turned to a 3-0 advantage for the Auburn, DJ Bennett held a third set lead on court one and Okutoyi held a third set lead on court four.

Okutoyi dropped the first set to No. 33 Gracie Epps but came back with a 6-4 win in the second set. The Auburn junior earned two breaks to take a 4-0 lead in the final set before ultimately winning the match 3-6, 6-4, 6-1 to begin the celebration with her teammates.

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With the win, the Tigers will enter the ITA National Team Indoor Championship with a perfect 8-0 record while the Cowgirls suffered their first defeat of the season and dropped to 5-1. The match marks the first time Oklahoma State has been shut out since losing to Oklahoma in April of 2023. 

The ITA National Team Indoor Championship will begin on Feb. 7 in Evanston, Illinois. The bracket for the championship is scheduled to be released on Tuesday.

 

#10 Auburn 4, #3 Oklahoma State 3

Singles Results:

  1. #2 DJ Bennett (AUB) vs. #48 Anastasiya Komar (OKST) 6-2, 6-7 (2-7), 3-2, unfinished
  2. #69 Ava Hrastar (AUB) vs. Kylie Collins (OKST) 4-6, 4-5, unfinished
  3. #110 Angella Okutoyi (AUB) def. #33 Gracie Epps (OKST) 3-6, 6-4, 6-1
  4. #22 Merna Refaat (AUB) vs. Rose Marie Nijkamp (OKST) 4-6, 6-6 (4-2), unfinished
  5. Ava Esposito (AUB) def. #58 Marcela Lopez (OKST) 6-0, 3-6, 6-3
  6. Alice Battesti (AUB) def. Alian Zack (OKST) 6-4, 6-1

Doubles Results:

  1. #16 DJ Bennett/Ava Hrastar (AUB) vs. Anastasiya Komar/Rose Marie Nijkamp (OKST) 4-5, unfinished
  2. #97 Angella Okutoyi/Merna Refaat (AUB) def. #35 Gracie Epps/Marcela Lopez (OKST) 7-5
  3. Maria Garcia/Ava Esposito (AUB) def. Kylie Collins/Alian Zack (OKST) 6-0

 

Time of match: 2:50; Order of finish: Doubles: 3,2; Singles: 6,5,3; Official: Donna Jerome