No. 11 Auburn comes back to defeat rival Alabama 4-3

No. 11 Auburn comes back to defeat rival Alabama 4-3No. 11 Auburn comes back to defeat rival Alabama 4-3
Hailey Mannix/Alabama Athletics

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - No. 11 Women’s tennis took down rival No. 21 Alabama by a 4-3 score on Friday afternoon at the Roberta Alison Baumgardner Tennis Facility in Tuscaloosa. With the match tied at three, the match was decided at the No. 1 singles position where Auburn’s DJ Bennett clinched the match in a second set tiebreaker.

“I understand the significance of this rivalry,” said Auburn head coach Jordan Szabo. “Once I got here, I understood it even more. I told the girls that it may not be the best team that we played, but this was the biggest match of the season to me. I thought we started out great in the doubles, then we got three singles. It was brutal conditions out there. With a tornado coming, it's crazy windy. Sometimes it's not about playing well, it's about just winning.

“We’ll definitely take the win and move on, but we have a lot to learn from. We have to get to work as coaches to get everybody battling and competing throughout the time. A great win when you beat Alabama, but we’re aiming for bigger accomplishments that beating a top 25 team, so we'll get back to work, try and survive this storm and see how we do on Sunday.”

The Tigers had no problems claiming the doubles point to begin the match, with wins at the No. 2 and No. 3 positions. Ava Esposito and Maria Garcia allowed just one game to improve to 12-4 this spring on court three. Angella Okutoyi and Merna Refaat had a tight match early against Sara Nayar and Klara Milicevic, but pulled away late to win the match 6-3 and clinch the doubles point for Auburn.

Alabama bounced back in singles, claiming two straight set wins at the No. 3 and No. 5 singles positions to take the lead 2-1.

Freshman Merna Refaat then picked up a straight set win of her own on court four to tie the match at two. Refaat defeated Maria Martinez Vaquero by a 6-3, 6-4 score to improve to 17-6 in singles overall this season and 9-5 in dual matches.

The Crimson Tide then responded with at win at the No. 6 singles position. Alice Battesti and Sara Nayar entered a tiebreaker to decide their first set, which Nayer prevailed in and took that momentum into the second set to win in straight sets. Nayer’s win gave Alabama a 3-2 advantage in the match.

In her second dual match at the No. 2 singles position, Angella Okutoyi jumped out to a 3-1 opening set lead over Maria Andrienko before claiming it 6-4. The two traded games in the second set until it was tied at four. The Auburn junior then won the next two games to claim the match win and tie the team score at three. Okutoyi is now 13-1 in dual matches this season in singles.

On the top singles court, DJ Bennett took each of the first three games against No. 79 Petra Sedlackova before winning it 6-3. In the second set, Bennett again took an early lead before Sedlackova came back to lead the set 6-5. The Auburn junior forced a tiebreaker, then the two sides went back and forth until Bennett eventually preserved in the tiebreaker 9-7 to clinch the match victory for the Tigers.

The win improves Auburn’s record to 14-4 this season and 3-3 in conference play. The Tigers have now won each of the last five meetings over the Crimson Tide in the rivalry match.

Up next, Auburn will travel to Starkville, Mississippi, to face Mississippi State at noon CT on Sunday. Live video and live scoring of the match will be available online at HailState.com.

 

#11 Auburn 4, #21 Alabama 3

Singles Results:

  1. #4 DJ Bennett (AUB) def. #79 Petra Sedlackova (UA) 6-3, 7-6 (9-7)
  2. #71 Angella Okutoyi (AUB) def. Maria Andrienko (UA) 6-4, 6-4
  3. #99 Klara Milicevic (UA) def. Ava Hrastar (AUB) 6-1, 6-3
  4. #28 Merna Refaat (AUB) def. Maria Martinez-Vaque (UA) 6-3, 6-4
  5. Margaux Maquet (UA) def. Ava Esposito (AUB) 6-3, 6-0
  6. Sara Nayar (UA) def. Alice Battesti (AUB) 7-6 (7-1), 6-0

Doubles Results:

  1. Petra Sedlackova/Margaux Maquet (UA) vs. #18 DJ Bennett/Ava Hrastar (AUB) 2-5, unfinished
  2. Angella Okutoyi/Merna Refaat (AUB) def. Sara Nayar/Klara Milicevic (UA) 6-3
  3. Maria Garcia/Ava Esposito (AUB) def. Maria Andrienko/Maria Martinez-Vaque (UA) 6-1

 

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