Strong singles play powers No. 10 Auburn over No. 8 North Carolina

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Strong singles play powers No. 10 Auburn over No. 8 North CarolinaStrong singles play powers No. 10 Auburn over No. 8 North Carolina

EVANSTON, Ill. – No. 10 Women’s tennis ended its time at the ITA National Team Indoor Championship on a high note on Sunday, knocking off No. 8 North Carolina by a 4-1 score at the Combre Tennis Center in Evanston, Illinois.  After dropping the doubles point, the Tigers won four singles matches to clinch the win over the historical program. The win marks Auburn’s third victory over the Tar Heels all-time and the first since 1996.

“We really came out and did a good job on the singles,” Auburn head coach Jordan Szabo said after the win. “We’ve got to figure out the doubles. I don't think it's a tennis thing, I think it's more of a mental thing. But I told the girls we have to lift our game and raise the roof, then we really got after it and played good tennis. We won five first sets and in the one set that we lost, we were able to switch things around there. DJ (Bennett) had match points, so potentially could have been a 6-1 match.

“North Carolina is an amazing team. They beat Georgia already this year. They’ve won this National Indoor title seven times, so it's a huge win for the program. That win will help us all year long in the rankings, and we can leave a solid weekend feeling good about ourselves.”

North Carolina got the upper hand early in the match by winning the doubles point. The Tar Heels won at the No. 2 position 6-3 before No. 29 Reese Brantmeier and Alanis Hamilton overcame an early 3-1 deficit to Ava Hrastar and DJ Bennett to win 7-5 and clinch the doubles point.

The Tigers came back strong to start singles, beginning with opening set wins on five courts. Sophomore Merna Refaat got back in the singles win column on Sunday, defeating #20 Carson Tanguilig 6-2, 6-4. With the second set tied at four, Refaat broke to love at a critical point in the match before winning the match on the next serve game.

Minutes later, Angella Okutoyi won her ninth consecutive singles match to begin the spring over Alanis Hamilton. Okutoyi dominated both sets and finished the match by winning each of the final three games in deciding points. The Auburn junior’s 6-2, 6-2 victory improved her overall singles record to 14-2 this season.

After claiming the opening set 6-3, sophomore Ava Epsosito dropped each of the first three games to No. 31 Tatum Evans to begin the second set. Esposito bounced back by winning four of the next six to close the deficit to 5-4. She then won a break to draw even at five before eventually heading into a tiebreaker. With the tiebreaker tied at three, the Auburn sophomore won each of the next three points to claim the win and draw the Tigers to within one point of the team victory. The win marked the highest ranked win of Esposito’s college career and improved her overall singles record to 16-9 this season.

At the No. 6 singles position, Auburn freshman Alice Battesti and Claire Hill went back-and-forth in the opening set that was ultimately decided by a tiebreaker. Battesti prevailed in the tiebreaker 7-3. The two sides held serve through the first six games of the second set before Hill earned a break on a deciding point to take a 4-3 lead. The Auburn freshman then won each of the next three games to claim a 7-6 (3), 6-4 singles win and clinch the team victory for the Tigers.

At the time of Battesti’s victory, Bennett was one tiebreaker point away from defeating No. 24 Brantmeier on the top singles court, while Hrastar was leading in her third set against No. 10 Theadora Rabman.

The win improved the Tigers’ record to 10-1 this season. The team has faced a top-10 opponent in each of its last four matches and won three over No. 3 Oklahoma State, No. 4 Stanford and No. 8 North Carolina. The loss dropped North Carolina’s record to 7-3 this season.

Up next, Auburn will return home to face Kansas State at the Yarbrough Tennis Center at noon CT. Admission to the match will be free while live video and live scoring will be available online at AuburnTigers.com.

 

#10 Auburn 4, #8 North Carolina 1

Singles Results:

  1. #2 DJ Bennett (AUB) vs. #24 Reese Brantmeier (UNC) 7-5, 6-6, unfinished
  2. #116 Ava Hrastar (AUB) vs. #10 Theadora Rabman (UNC) 3-6, 6-2, 3-2, unfinished
  3. #58 Angella Okutoyi (AUB) def. Alanis Hamilton (UNC) 6-2, 6-2
  4. #22 Merna Refaat (AUB) def. #20 Carson Tanguilig (UNC) 6-2, 6-4
  5. Ava Esposito (AUB) def. #31 Tatum Evans (UNC) 6-3, 7-6 (3)
  6. Alice Battesti (AUB) def. Claire Hill (UNC) 7-6 (3), 6-4

Doubles Results:

  1. #29 Reese Brantmeier/Alanis Hamilton (UNC) def. #12 DJ Bennett/Ava Hrastar (AUB) 7-5
  2. #5 Carson Tanguilig/Susanna Maltby (UNC) def. #51 Angella Okutoyi/Merna Refaat (AUB) 6-3
  3. #26 Tatum Evans/Theadora Rabman (UNC) vs. Ava Esposito/Maria Garcia (AUB) 6-6

 

Order of finish: Doubles: 2,1; Singles: 4,3,5,6