No. 6 Women’s tennis falls to top-ranked Texas A&M in SEC Championship semifinal

SEC Championship Central Box Score
No. 6 Women’s tennis falls to top-ranked Texas A&M in SEC Championship semifinalNo. 6 Women’s tennis falls to top-ranked Texas A&M in SEC Championship semifinal
Grayson Belanger/Auburn Tigers

AUBURN, Ala. – No. 6 Auburn dropped a heartbreaking match 4-3 on Saturday in the semifinals of the SEC Championship at the Yarbrough Tennis Center in Auburn, Alabama. The Tigers claimed the doubles point and won two singles matches in straight sets to reach three points. With the match tied at three, Texas A&M claimed the final match at the No. 5 singles position to claim the close victory.

“We played like champions when it mattered in the doubles point and put ourselves in a good position to win the match,” said Auburn head coach Jordan Szabo. “We won four first sets, but that's why they're the defending SEC champions and national champions. They found a way to turn some matches when we didn't. When we've got opportunities to go and build leads, we need to get a little bit better at that. I think we’re playing these really high-stake matches, and most of these girls haven't been involved in matches like this, so they've got to believe that they're capable of beating anyone.

“We've just come such a long way as a team that we're dealing with some new experiences and we're going to find ways to sprint through the finish line when we get the opportunities. I am proud of the girls for their fight, their competitiveness and how much we've grown from August to now. We've got to take some rest and work really hard these next couple of weeks to set ourselves up for a deep NCAA Championship run.”

In the dramatic doubles point, Texas A&M struck first with a 6-4 win at the No. 3 singles position. On the top doubles court, Auburn’s DJ Bennett and Ava Hrastar responded by turning an early 3-0 lead into a 6-2 win over No. 35 Mary Stoiana and Lucciana Perez.

On court two, Auburn’s Angella Okutoyi and Merna Refaat built an early lead over Mia Kupres and Daria Smetannikov, but had to win the final game of the set to force a tiebreaker. The Auburn duo caught fire in the tiebreaker, winning four straight points before ultimately claiming the match and the doubles point for the Tigers.

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Auburn’s momentum from the dramatic doubles point win continued into singles, where Bennett, Refaat, Ava Esposito and Alice Battesti each claimed first set victories.

The Aggies earned a straight set victory at the No. 2 position to tie the match, but Battesti finished off a 6-1, 6-3 win over Lexington Reed to reclaim the lead for the Tigers 2-1. In the second set, Battesti won four of her last five games to close out the match, including two holds to love. The freshman won both of her singles matches during the SEC Championship run for the Tigers.

Moments after Battesti’s win, Texas A&M claimed another point to tie the match at two with a straight set victory at the No. 3 singles position.

On the top singles court, DJ Bennett claimed each of the first four games to open the match over Mary Stoiana, the second-ranked singles player in the nation, before taking the first set 6-1. The two sides traded games in the second set, leading to a tie at four. Bennett then picked up a break and looked strong in a serve game to complete a 6-1, 6-4 upset over Stoiana. The win marked the highest ranked singles win of Bennett’s career and improved her overall singles record to 26-10 overall.

Texas A&M came back from an opening set loss at the No. 4 singles position to win and tie the match, setting up a winner-take-all on court five.

At the No. 5 singles position, Auburn’s Ava Esposito looked strong by turning an early 3-0 first set lead into a 6-3 victory, but Texas A&M’s Daria Smetannikov responded by winning the second set by the same score. Smetannikov won the first two games of the final set, but Esposito fought back to tie the set before the two sides traded breaks. With the set tied at three, Smetannikov won the next three games to claim victory and clinch the team win for Texas A&M.

“I want to thank everyone at Auburn for putting on a great event and coming to support us,” continued Szabo. “I appreciate the staff for making it a great atmosphere out there. It sucks for the girls and for them that we couldn't get it done, but we'll try and come back bigger and stronger.”

Auburn reached the SEC Championship semifinal for just the third time in program history and the first time since 2017 on Saturday. The loss drops the Tigers’ record to 23-6 overall with five of the six losses coming to programs ranked inside the ITA top 10.

The NCAA regional selections will be revealed on April 28 at 4 p.m. during a selection show streaming live on NCAA.com.

 

#1 Texas A&M 4, #6 Auburn 3

Singles Results:

  1. #4 DJ Bennett (AUB) def. #2 Mary Stoiana (TAMU) 6-1, 6-4
  2. #17 Nicole Khirin (TAMU) def. #59 Angella Okutoyi (AUB) 6-0, 6-3
  3. #72 Mia Kupres (TAMU) def. #79 Ava Hrastar (AUB) 6-2, 6-1
  4. #51 Lucciana Perez (TAMU) def. #57 Merna Refaat (AUB) 3-6, 6-0, 6-2
  5. #102 Daria Smetannikov (TAMU) def. Ava Esposito (AUB) 3-6, 6-3, 6-3
  6. Alice Battesti (AUB) def. Lexington Reed (TAMU) 6-1, 6-3

Doubles Results:

  1. #19 DJ Bennett/Ava Hrastar (AUB) def. #35 Mary Stoiana/Lucciana Perez (TAMU) 6-2
  2. #53 Angella Okutoyi/Merna Refaat (AUB) def. Mia Kupres/Daria Smetannikov (TAMU) 7-6 (7-5)
  3. Nicole Khirin/Lexington Reed (TAMU) def. Ava Esposito/Maria Garcia (AUB) 6-4

 

Time of match: 3:23; Order of finish: Doubles: 3,1,2; Singles: 2,6,3,1,4,5; Official: Andrew Rogers