AUBURN, Ala. – No. 6 Auburn defeated No. 13 Vanderbilt 4-2 on Friday afternoon in the quarterfinals of the SEC Championship at the Yarbrough Tennis Center in Auburn, Alabama. The Tigers dropped the doubles point, then came back with four singles wins. Auburn freshman Merna Refaat clinched the match victory with a three-set win at the No. 4 singles position to punch the team’s ticket to Saturday’s semifinal round.
That ADVANCING feeling 🤩🤩#WarEagle pic.twitter.com/yvUZG1vWBM
— Auburn Women's Tennis (@AuburnWTennis) April 19, 2025
“It was a really good win for us,” said Auburn head coach Jordan Szabo. “We started really slow. I think we were playing a little nervous and Vanderbilt had a match under its belt. So that was a challenge, but we have to be ready to go from the start because we got lucky down the stretch. That doubles point is not key tonight, but we want to show up in it.
We get an opportunity to play again and this is basically like a small NCAA Tournament out here, so we're going to have to play our best match of the year tomorrow, no matter who we play, and I'm excited for the girls to get out there. You generally play better tennis every match that you play throughout the weekend, so I'm excited for that.”
In doubles, Vanderbilt claimed a 6-2 victory at the No. 3 doubles position and came back from an early 2-0 deficit on court two to win 6-3 and secure the doubles point.
Auburn earned three opening set wins to begin singles from Angella Okutoyi, Alice Battesti and Ava Esposito while dropping the other three. The Commodores claimed the top doubles court in straight sets to push their lead to 2-0.
Battesti jumped out to a 5-1 lead in the opening set over Amy Stevens before closing out the set 6-3. Trailing 3-1, Stevens broke to love late in the second set before Battesti won two consecutive games on deciding points before eventually claiming the match 6-3, 6-2 for Auburn’s first point in the contest.
Moments later, Angella Okutoyi finished off a straight set victory over Valeria Ray for her sixth consecutive singles victory. The 6-2, 6-3 win improved Okutoyi’s overall singles record to 26-4 this season and 21-2 in dual matches.
After dropping a close first set, Auburn’s Ava Hrastar won each of the first four games of the second set and cruised to a 6-1 set win. Trailing the third set 2-1, Hrastar won each of the next five games, including the final return game on a deciding point, to defeat No. 52 Bridget Stammel 4-6, 6-1, 6-2 and give the Tigers a 3-2 lead.
Ava Hrastar gives Auburn the a 3-2 LEAD with a three set win on court 3️⃣#WarEagle pic.twitter.com/hKCc01Fimt
— Auburn Women's Tennis (@AuburnWTennis) April 18, 2025
Vanderbilt’s Sophia Webster claimed the first set over Auburn’s Merna Refaat before Refaat fought back to win the second and force a decisive third set on court four. Refaat earned two breaks in the third set to take a 5-1 lead, and ultimately won the set on a deciding point to defeat Webster 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 to clinch the match and begin the celebration.
With the victory, Auburn advances to its third SEC Championship semifinal appearance in program history and the first since 2017. The Tigers will face the winner of Friday evening’s match between No. 1 Texas A&M and No. 14 Texas at 3 p.m. CT at the Yarbrough Tennis Center.
Admission to Saturday’s semifinal match will be free for fans and more spectator information is available on the Championship Central page at AuburnTigers.com. SEC Network + will provide live coverage of the match while live scoring will be available at AuburnTigers.com.
#6 Auburn 4, #13 Vanderbilt 2
Singles Results:
- #10 Celia-Belle Mohr (VANDY) def. #4 DJ Bennett (AUB) 6-4, 6-0
- #59 Angella Okutoyi (AUB) def. #62 Valeria Ray (VANDY) 6-2, 6-2
- #79 Ava Hrastar (AUB) def. #52 Bridget Stammel (VANDY) 4-6, 6-1, 6-2
- #57 Merna Refaat (AUB) def. Sophia Webster (VANDY) 4-6, 6-4, 6-2
- Ava Esposito (AUB) vs. Trinetra Vijayakumar (VANDY) 7-6, 5-7, 1-5, unfinished
- Alice Battesti (AUB) def. Amy Stevens (VANDY) 6-3, 6-2
Doubles Results:
- #19 DJ Bennett/Ava Hrastar (AUB) vs. #14 Celia-Belle Mohr/Sophia Webster (VANDY) 4-3, unfinished
- Valeria Ray/Bridget Stammel (VANDY) def. #53 Angella Okutoyi/Merna Refaat (AUB) 6-3
- Amy Stevens/Sonya Macavei (VANDY) def. Ava Esposito/Maria Garcia (AUB) 6-2