No. 4 Women’s tennis outlasts Florida 5-2 in conference opener

Box Score
No. 4 Women’s tennis outlasts Florida 5-2 in conference openerNo. 4 Women’s tennis outlasts Florida 5-2 in conference opener

AUBURN, Ala. – No. 4 Auburn persevered over Florida in a match that lasted nearly four hours to begin SEC play 1-0 on Sunday at the Yarbrough Tennis Center in Auburn, Alabama. Auburn claimed the doubles point and one straight set singles victory before Alice Battesti and Ava Esposito each pulled out wins in three sets to push the Tigers to victory. The win marks the program’s fourth win all-time over the Gators.

“We played a great doubles point, I think the best doubles point of the year,” Auburn head coach Jordan Szabo said after the win. “We've been working on the doubles a lot, so I thought we played a great doubles point, and then it was a battle. We got off to a really good start on a bunch of courts, then we let the door open on some of the courts and didn't take our opportunities when we needed to. The SEC is brutal and every one of those girls are good players. The biggest thing that we need to do is shut the door when we get opportunities.

“I think in the matches that we lost, we had opportunities to win and build leads and take our chances while on some of the ones where we did win that were close, we had opportunities to make life a little bit easier for ourselves. It was good to have the match come down to a couple courts because we haven't been in that situation that much this year. So I think that will help us going forward.”

Esposito and Maria Garcia got the momentum started early for Auburn, winning each of their service games in a 6-2 victory at the No. 3 doubles position. On court two, a couple of early breaks helped Angella Okutoyi and Merna Refaat jump out to a 5-1 lead over Rachel Gailis and Tailia Neilson-Gatenby before ultimately winning the match 6-3 to claim the doubles point for the Tigers. The win marked the Auburn duo’s fifth doubles win together in dual matches and ninth overall.

Okutoyi continued her dominance in singles, winning her tenth consecutive singles match to begin the spring. The Auburn junior fell behind 4-2 early in the first set, but won each of the next four games including three on deciding points to close out the set 6-4. She then cruised through the second set to claim a 6-4, 6-1 victory to give Auburn an early 2-0 advantage in the match.

Okutoyi’s match would ultimately be the only singles match to finish in two sets on Sunday, as all five over matches reached a third set.

Florida’s Rachel Gailis dominated in her first set against DJ Bennett on the top singles court before Bennett bounced back with a 6-2 victory in the second set. Gailis ultimately claimed the third set to close out the match 6-2, 2-6, 6-4.

On court six, Battesti dropped her opening set to Noemie Oliveras 3-6 before bouncing back to win the second set due to a break in the final game to win 6-4. The freshman dominated the third set 6-1 to claim the match at the No. 6 singles position and move Auburn to within one singles match win from victory.

After Florida picked up a win on court two, the match clinching victory came from Esposito on court five. Esposito and Bente Spee split sets to set up a winner-take-all third set. The final set stayed close with both sides nearly holding serve throughout. With the set tied at five, Esposito broke to love before winning a crucial serve game to claim the match 6-4, 4-6, 7-5.

After the team victory was secured, Refaat won in three sets on court four to make the final score 5-2.

The win improves Auburn’s record to 12-1 this season and 8-0 in home matches. Up next, the Tigers will travel to face Georgia for the second time this season. That match will be played on Friday at 3 p.m. CT at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex in Athens, Georgia.

 

#4 Auburn 5, #40 Florida 2

Singles Results:

  1. Rachel Gailis (UF) def. #2 DJ Bennett (AUB) 6-2, 2-6, 6-4
  2. Alicia Dudeney (UF) def. Ava Hrastar (AUB)  4-6, 6-4, 6-3
  3. #57 Angella Okutoyi (AUB) def. Tailia Neilson-Gatenby (UF),  6-4, 6-1
  4. #17 Merna Refaat (AUB) def. Nikola Daubnerova (UF) 6-1, 6-7, 7-5
  5. #116 Ava Esposito (AUB) def. Bente Spee (UF) 6-4, 4-6, 7-5
  6. Alice Battesti (AUB) def. Noemie Oliveras (UF)  3-6, 6-4, 6-1

Doubles Results:

  1. #20 DJ Bennett/Ava Hrastar (AUB) vs. Alicia Dudeney/Bente Spee (UF) 5-4, unfinished
  2. #69 Angella Okuotyi/Merna Refaat (AUB) def. Rachel Gailis/Tailia Neilson-Gatenby 6-3
  3. Ava Esposito/Maria Garcia (AUB) def. Nikola Daubnerova/Noemie Oliveras 6-2

 

Time of match: 3:48; Order of finish: Doubles: 3,2; Singles: 3,1,6,2,5,4; Official: Donna Jerome