No. 10 Auburn suffers first loss of season to No. 1 Georgia at ITA Indoors

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No. 10 Auburn suffers first loss of season to No. 1 Georgia at ITA IndoorsNo. 10 Auburn suffers first loss of season to No. 1 Georgia at ITA Indoors

EVANSTON, Ill. – No. 10 Women’s tennis bowed out of the ITA National Team Indoor Championship on Saturday after dropping its quarterfinal match to No. 1 Georgia 4-1 at the Combre Tennis Center in Evanston, Illinois.

Junior Angella Okutoyi provided the Tigers’ point in the match, as she defeated Mell Reasco in straight sets for her eighth consecutive singles win to begin the spring.

“Tough match,” said Auburn head coach Jordan Szabo. “We spotted them too many leads in the doubles and I thought we fought hard but just didn’t capitalize on our chances. If that plays out, it likely finishes 4-3 so a lot to build on. I’m excited to see how we respond from some adversity tomorrow against one of the best teams in the nation.”

Georgia got off to a hot start at the No. 3 doubles position, where it turned an early 5-1 lead into a 6-4 win. The other two doubles matches remained tight. Dasha Vidmanova and Reasco jumped out to a 4-0 lead on the top doubles court over DJ Bennett and Ava Hrastar, but the Auburn duo fought back by winning three of the next four games by deciding points before ultimately falling 6-3 to drop the doubles point. Okutoyi and Merna Refaat had staved off elimination twice on court two and were tied 5-5 with Anastasiia Lopata and Guillermina Grant when the match was abandoned.

Singles were just as tightly contested as doubles in the rivalry match. Georgia stuck first with a straight set win at the No. 5 position to take a 2-0 lead in the match.

Auburn got some momentum back on the top singles court at that time, which was a rematch of the 2024-25 NCAA Singles Championship Final between Bennett and No. 1 Vidmanova. Trailing 3-2 in the first set, Bennett earned a dominant break to tie the set at three. The set would ultimately be decided in a tiebreaker, which Bennett claimed 7-4 after winning each of the first three points.

Georgia’s Anastasiia Lopata later defeated Ava Hrastar in straight sets at the No. 2 singles position to move the Bulldogs to within one match win of a team victory. Auburn then responded moments later at the No. 3 singles match, where Okutoyi took down Mell Reasco 6-3, 7-5. Reasco fought back late in the set by winning a serve game on a deciding point to tie the set at five before Okutoyi earned a break and won a serve game on a deciding point to claim the victory and remain undefeated in singles dual matches.

Just minutes later, Auburn freshman Alice Battesti was defeated in a second  set tiebreaker by Sofia Rojas to lose 3-6, 6-7 (2) and secure the team win for Georgia.

Auburn will now face another top-10 opponent, No. 8 North Carolina, in a consolation match on Sunday at 1 p.m. CT. The Tigers have faced the Tar Heels each of the last two seasons and dropped both matches.

Live video and live scoring of the match from the Combre Tennis Center will be available online through Playsight and iOnCourt.

 

#1 Georgia 4, #10 Auburn 1

Singles Results:

  1. #2 DJ Bennett (AUB) vs. Dasha Vidmanova (UGA) 7-6 (4), 4-3, unfinished
  2. #37 Anastasiia Lopata (UGA) def. #116 Ava Hrastar (AUB) 6-4, 6-3
  3. #58 Angella Okutoyi (AUB) def. Mell Reasco (UGA) 6-3, 7-5
  4. #22 Merna Refaat (AUB) vs. #75 Aysegul Mert (UGA) 3-6, 6-1, 5-4, unfinished
  5. #90 Guillermina Grant (UGA) def. Ava Esposito (AUB) 6-2, 6-3
  6. Sofia Rojas (UGA) def. Alice Battesti (AUB) 6-3, 7-6 (2)

Doubles Results:

  1. Dasha Vidmanova/Mell Reasco (UGA) def. #12 DJ Bennett/Ava Hrastar (AUB) 6-3
  2. #51 Angella Okutoyi/Merna Refaat (AUB) vs. Anastasiia Lopata/Guillermina Grant (UGA) 5-5, unfinished
  3. #57 Aysegul Mert/Hayden Mulberry (UGA) def. Ava Esposito/Maria Garcia (AUB) 6-4

 

Order of finish: Doubles: 3,1; Singles: 5,2,3,6