AUBURN, Ala. – No. 4 Women’s tennis is set to begin its conference slate on Sunday at noon CT against Florida at the Yarbrough Tennis Center in Auburn, Alabama. Fans are encouraged to arrive at the match early to receive a Coach Jordan Szabo graphic t-shirt while supplies last.
“Florida is a great team and they’re well coached,” said Szabo. “A lot of the teams we’ve played this year have been the blue bloods of women’s tennis and Florida is no different. They have great players and they’re a team I’m very familiar with because I’ve played against them seven times in the last two years as a coach. We’re a hot team right now and Florida has played a lot fewer matches than us but we’re going to have to be ready to go. It’s not easy to come here and play at Auburn, I think it’s going to be very challenging for them to play their best tennis, but we also have a bit of a target on our backs. I expect them to come out and play loose so it’s important for us to weather the storm and play well in the critical moments.”
Crikey, mate! We’re going gator hunting on Sunday! 🐊
— Auburn Women's Tennis (@AuburnWTennis) February 21, 2025
Get to Sunday’s match and pick up your own @j_szabo graphic T-shirt while supplies last #WarEagle pic.twitter.com/ZjIs64tJ4x
The Tigers will enter the match with an 11-1 overall record including three top-10 wins over No. 3 Oklahoma State, No. 4 Stanford and No. 8 North Carolina. In the ITA national team rankings that were released on Thursday, Auburn was tabbed No. 4, which tied the highest mark in program history that was last achieved in 2017.
In the individual rankings that were also released by the ITA on Thursday, DJ Bennett remained ranked the second-best singles player in the country. Freshman Merna Refaat moved up to No. 17 in the singles rankings, while Angella Okuotyi was tabbed No. 57 and Ava Esposito became ranked for the first time in her career at No. 116. In Thursday’s doubles rankings, Bennett and Ava Hrastar appeared at No. 20 while Okutoyi and Refaat were ranked No. 69.
Okutoyi will enter the weekend undefeated in dual matches at 6-0 in singles and 14-2 overall. Ava Esposito is sporting a 9-2 dual match singles record with wins in four of her last five matches.
Florida, ranked No. 40 in the country by the ITA, will enter Sunday with a 3-2 overall record with its losses coming to No. 22 LSU during ITA Kickoff Weekend and No. 7 Michigan. The Gators’ singles lineup saw a lot of shaking up during the non-conference schedule. Senior Alicia Dudeney has split time between the No. 1 and No. 2 singles position and holds a 10-7 overall singles record this season.
Florida does have a strong doubles pair with Dudeney and Rachel Gailis, the sixth-ranked doubles team in the nation, but the two have not played a dual match together this season despite going 8-1 during the fall and reaching the NCAA Doubles Championship semifinals in November.
Florida, which made a coaching change for the first time in 26 years following the retirement of Roland Thornqvist in October, controls the all-time series over Auburn 46-3. The Tigers defeated the Gators 4-3 at the ITA National Team Indoor Championships last season before Florida got revenge by winning 4-1 in Gainesville later in the year.
Admission to the Yarbrough Tennis Center is free for fans. Fans will receive an alligator hunter Jordan Szabo graphic t-shirt on a first-come, first-serve basis while supplies last. Live video and live stats of the match will be available online at AuburnTigers.com.