AUBURN, Ala. – No. 8 Women’s tennis will return home after a 2-0 road trip to host No. 15 Vanderbilt and Missouri at the Yarbrough Tennis Center in Auburn, Alabama. The Tigers will face Vanderbilt on Friday at 5 p.m. before battling Missouri on Sunday at noon CT.
“Vanderbilt is a great team and a former national championship team,” said Auburn head coach Jordan Szabo. “They’re coming off a huge win over Texas A&M and they’re a really good team so we’re going to have to bring it. The home court advantage and confidence from the roll that we are on right now will have to get us over the line. If we have six girls battling hard in singles and three strong doubles teams, I’m confident we can do great things on Friday.”
On Friday, Auburn came back from a 3-1 deficit to defeat No. 21 Alabama in the Iron Bowl of tennis. 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 over No. Petra Sedlackova. Auburn took that momentum to Starkville, where they shut out Mississippi State 4-0 behind a doubles point and a win at each of the top three singles positions.
The two wins helped propel Auburn from No. 11 back into the ITA National Team Rankings top 10 at No. 8. The Tigers have now been featured inside the top 10 in five of the nine rankings released this season.
Vanderbilt has had an impressive season, compiling a 12-3 overall record and a 5-2 mark in SEC matches. The Commodores recently snapped a two-match skid to No. 14 Oklahoma and No. 13 Texas by defeating No. 2 Texas A&M on Sunday. Two Vanderbilt players, Celia-Belle Mohr and Valeria Ray, each earned SEC Co-Player of the Week honors for their wins at the No. 1 and No. 2 singles positions in the upset.
“Missouri on Sunday is going to be another tough match,” continued Szabo. “Traveling on the road in the SEC from Florida to here will be tough on them for sure, but we’re going to have to bring our best.”
Missouri currently holds a 10-7 overall record this season and is 1-6 in conference matches. The Tigers defeated Mississippi State 4-3 on March 2, but have since lost four consecutive matches. Auburn has won all 12 matches in the all-time series against Missouri.
Attendance at both matches at the Yarbrough Tennis Center will be complimentary for fans. Friday’s match will be Auburn’s “Spicy Hot Match Day” presented by Moe’s Original BBQ, where fans will receive wings with spicy hot sauce on the side while supplies last. The first fans in attendance to Sunday’s match will receive a free tennis ball container koozie while supplies last.
Live video and live scoring of both matches will be available online at AuburnTigers.com.