AUBURN, Ala. – No. 4 Auburn will begin its dual match season Sunday, hosting Bellarmine in a doubleheader at 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. CT at the Yarbrough Tennis Center. The Tigers enter the season tied for the highest ITA ranking in program history, which was revealed Wednesday.
“I think we have an amazing team, and we have so many different players that we can play,” Auburn head coach Jordan Szabo said. “We have the majority of our team back, and we’ve added some new players, including some January enrollees, who are very talented. So we have a lot of players who can help us and a lot of players with professional and college tennis experience.”
Szabo will begin his second season at the helm Sunday after a history-making first year on the Plains in 2025. In his first season as the Tigers’ head coach, Szabo led the team to 25 victories, including 11 over top-25 opponents. Auburn earned its highest NCAA Tournament national seed at No. 9 and finished the season ranked eighth nationally.
Auburn returns six players from last season’s roster, including Angella Okutoyi, DJ Bennett and Merna Refaat. The Tigers added five newcomers during the offseason, including two-time CUSA Player of the Year Ekaterina Khairutdinova from FIU and 2025 SEC All-Freshman Ashton Bowers from Texas.
Admission to both matches at the Yarbrough Tennis Center is free, and fans attending Sunday’s matches will receive a women’s tennis schedule magnet while supplies last. Live video and live scoring for both matches will be available at AuburnTigers.com. More fan information is available at AuburnTigers.com/MatchDay.