AUBURN, Ala. – No. 13 Auburn women’s tennis is set to face No. 11 Oklahoma on Thursday at 11:30 a.m. CT at the Headington Family Tennis Center in Norman, Oklahoma. The match will mark the second straight road contest to open the 2026 SEC slate for the Tigers.
“Oklahoma has a great team,” Auburn head coach Jordan Szabo said. “We remember them dancing on our courts last year when we lost to them 4-3 and they were a top four seed in the NCAA Tournament last year. If we were to have beaten them, then we probably would’ve been a top four seed. It’s going to be a big match.
“A bunch of our girls played a professional event there in the fall, so we’re somewhat familiar with the conditions, but we’ll have to go out there, compete really hard and bring it. They always bring a lot of energy and intensity.”
Auburn will enter the Sooner State with a 16-1 overall record and a 1-0 mark in conference play. The Tigers opened conference play with a 5-2 road victory against Florida on Saturday. In the latest UTR College Team Rankings released Wednesday, Auburn remained in the No. 1 spot for the second consecutive week.
Senior DJ Bennett, a native of nearby Belleview, Florida, clinched the doubles point with Ava Esposito on the top doubles court, then secured the match at the No. 1 singles position with a 6-3, 6-3 victory over No. 54 Valery Gynina. Bennett earned SEC Player of the Week honors for her performance.
Auburn’s Ashton Bowers and Ava Esposito also recorded straight-set singles victories during the match to improve to 10-0 and 11-0, respectively, in dual-match singles play this season.
Oklahoma will enter the match with a 10-2 overall record and an 8-0 record at home. The Sooners began conference play with a 4-0 home victory over Arkansas on Sunday. The team’s only losses this season came to No. 2 Texas A&M and No. 3 North Carolina at the ITA National Team Indoor Championship.
Oklahoma sophomore Julia Garcia Ruiz is the team’s only ranked singles player at No. 18 and holds an 11-6 overall singles record this season. Roisin Gilheany and Gloriana Nahum are 10-2 in doubles overall this season and are the top-ranked doubles team in the nation.
The match will begin at 11:30 a.m. CT, with live video and live scoring available at SoonerSports.com.
Auburn in the rankings (ITA)
Singles:
26 - Ashton Bowers
27 - Ava Esposito
37 – DJ Bennett
95 – Angella Okutoyi
105 – Alice Battesti
Doubles:
48 – Angella Okutoyi/Ava Esposito
65 – Ashton Bowers/DJ Bennett