AUBURN, Ala. – No. 13 Auburn women’s tennis is set to play its SEC home opener Saturday against Arkansas at 11 a.m. CT, followed by Eastern Kentucky at 3 p.m. CT at the Yarbrough Tennis Center.
“It’ll be our last doubleheader of the season, and we’re doing that so everyone can get lots of matches and hopefully everybody will get to play on Saturday,” Auburn head coach Jordan Szabo said. “Multiple people will play multiple matches, and Arkansas is a good team. I’m friends with the coach and he’s going to have them fired up.
“I really believe everybody’s biggest match of the year is going to be against the Auburn Tigers, so we expect Arkansas to play at their best. If we can play at a high level and compete well, we’ll be in good shape. For Eastern Kentucky, we’re going to be one of the best teams on their schedule and they’re going to bring it. We’ll be excited to get after it and play them on Saturday afternoon.”
The Tigers enter the match with momentum after opening conference play with back-to-back road victories over Florida on Saturday and No. 11 Oklahoma on Thursday. Auburn holds a 17-1 overall record and has yet to lose at home this season, going 11-0 at the Yarbrough Tennis Center.
In Thursday’s match against Oklahoma, Auburn’s Ekaterina Khairutdinova, Angella Okutoyi and Merna Refaat each earned straight-set singles victories in the team win. Khairutdinova, the regular at the No. 2 singles position, holds a 9-1 dual-match record and recorded wins in both of Auburn’s SEC matches.
In doubles, Khairutdinova and Ashton Bowers continue to impress, as the Auburn duo holds a perfect 14-0 record this spring. The Tigers have earned the doubles point in every match this season.
Arkansas enters Saturday’s match with an 8-3 overall record and an 0-2 mark in the SEC. The Razorbacks’ two conference losses came on the road against Oklahoma on Sunday and at home against Florida on Thursday, both by 4-0 scores.
Eastern Kentucky holds a 6-7 overall record this season. The Colonels were on a four-match winning streak before falling at Mississippi State on Thursday.
Live video and live scoring of both matches will be available at AuburnTigers.com. Admission to both matches at the Yarbrough Tennis Center will be free, and fans will receive free Moe’s BBQ while supplies last. More fan information is available at AuburnTigers.com/MatchDay.
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