AUBURN, Ala. – No. 5 Auburn is set to host Kansas State in a non-conference match at noon CT at the Yarbrough Tennis Center on Saturday. The Tigers will enter the match with their highest national ranking of the season after recently downing two top-10 teams at the ITA National Team Indoor Championship.
“Kansas State is a Big 12 program and has had some success,” said Auburn head coach Jordan Szabo. “It’s still early in the year and they’ll be a challenging opponent for sure. I think after the National Indoors the girls needed to rest a little bit, but we’re back to our routine and we’re excited to have some competition this weekend that will set us up for SEC play. It’s all about getting back to our conditions and hopefully getting outside if the rain holds off so we’re excited to get back to competing.”
Auburn will enter Saturday’s match with a 10-1 overall record after a successful weekend at the ITA National Team Indoor Championship. After shutting out No. 3 Oklahoma State at home on Feb. 1, the Tigers defeated No. 4 Stanford by a 4-1 score to begin the ITA National Team Indoor Championship in Evanston, Illinois. The team then dropped a close match to No. 1 Georgia, the eventual champion, before bouncing back with another 4-1 victory over No. 8 North Carolina. Auburn’s three impressive wins moved the team from No. 10 to No. 5 in the ITA team rankings that were released on Wednesday.
Auburn junior Angella Okutoyi has remained undefeated in singles matches this spring, playing primarily at the No. 3 position for the Tigers. Okutoyi was tabbed SEC Player of the Week on Feb. 5 after clinching the Tigers’ upset win over the Cowgirls by defeating No. 33 Gracie Epps in three sets.
She defended her SEC Player of the Week honor well during the ITA National Team Indoor Championship over the weekend, posting three dominant straight set singles victories to remain undefeated in dual matches as well as a doubles point clinching win in a tiebreaker. The Auburn junior claimed straight set wins over former U.S. Junior Open champion Katherine Hui of Stanford, Mell Reasco of Georgia and Alanis Hamilton of North Carolina. Okutoyi is now 14-2 in singles overall and 9-0 in dual matches this season.
Sophomore Ava Esposito also impressed during the Tigers’ time in Evanston, contributing to both of Auburn’s victories with two singles wins at the No. 5 position as well as a doubles win with partner Maria Garcia. Esposito defeated Stanford’s Chidimma Okpara 6-3, 7-6 (5) on Friday before taking down North Carolina’s No. 31 Tatum Evans 6-3, 7-6 (3). The sophomore’s win over Evans marked the highest ranked singles victory of her college career.
Kansas State will enter Saturday’s match with a 2-2 record with a loss to Kentucky on Sunday. The team posted a 12-12 overall record in 2024 and went 4-9 in the Big 12. The Wildcats have a couple of ranked doubles teams, including No. 70 Veronika Kulhava and Tereza Polakova.
The match is scheduled to begin at 11 a.m. CT at the Yarbrough Tennis Center where admission is free for fans. Weather permitting, the match will be played on the facility’s outdoor courts. Live video and live scoring of the match will be available online at AuburnTigers.com.