EVANSTON, Ill. – No. 4 Auburn women’s tennis will begin its quest for the 2026 ITA National Team Indoor Championship on Friday at the Combe Tennis Center in Evanston, Illinois. The single-elimination event opens with the first two rounds on Friday and Saturday, followed by consolation matches on Sunday. The semifinals will be contested Monday, with the championship match scheduled for Tuesday evening.
“It’s going to be about preparing ourselves to be familiar with the conditions, feeling good to play matches and getting our minds and bodies ready to compete,” Auburn head coach Jordan Szabo said. “We’re very excited about the opportunities we have. I feel like we’re in a really good spot, and we’re excited to go play the host team.”
Auburn qualified for the championship for the fifth consecutive season by winning its ITA Kickoff Weekend site at home against Tulane and Florida State. At last season’s ITA Indoors, the Tigers defeated No. 4 Stanford in the first round, fell to top-ranked Georgia in the second round and rebounded with a consolation win over No. 8 North Carolina.
The Tigers, the tournament’s No. 1 seed, will face host Northwestern on Friday at 3:30 p.m. CT in the opening round. The winner will advance to face either No. 8 Oklahoma State or No. 9 NC State. Each of the nation’s top 10 teams is represented in the field. Northwestern enters the match with a 5-1 record, with its lone loss coming on the road at No. 12 Vanderbilt.
Auburn enters the championship with a perfect 11-0 record and is coming off a 5-0 shutout of No. 13 Michigan in its first true road match of the season on Monday. Senior DJ Bennett earned SEC Player of the Week honors after defeating Michigan’s Piper Charney, the nation’s third-ranked singles player, 6-2, 6-3 in the team victory. Bennett holds a 5-1 dual match record in both singles and doubles this season.
Sophomore Ashton Bowers has also been impressive for the Tigers, posting a 6-0 dual match singles record and an 8-0 mark in doubles, primarily alongside Ekaterina Khairutdinova. Bowers was ranked No. 30 in the ITA singles rankings released Wednesday.
In doubles, Angella Okutoyi and Merna Refaat have continued their strong partnership from last season, holding a perfect 6-0 dual match record that includes a ranked victory over Michigan’s Piper Charney and Emily Sartz-Lunde.
Live video and live scoring for each match throughout the championship will be available at wearecollegetennis.com. CrackedRacquets will also provide broadcast-style coverage on its YouTube channel.
Auburn players in the rankings (ITA)
Singles:
Ashton Bowers – No. 30
Ava Esposito – No. 31
DJ Bennett - 58
Angella Okutoyi – No. 84
Doubles:
Ashton Bowers/DJ Bennett – No. 69
Angella Okutoyi/Merna Refaat – No. 76
Ava Esposito/DJ Bennett – No. 84