No. 4 women’s tennis downs No. 9 NC State in ITA Indoor Championship quarterfinals

No. 4 women’s tennis downs No. 9 NC State in ITA Indoor Championship quarterfinalsNo. 4 women’s tennis downs No. 9 NC State in ITA Indoor Championship quarterfinals
Zach Pohlman/ITA

EVANSTON, Ill. – No. 4 Auburn women’s tennis defeated ninth-ranked NC State 4-1 in the quarterfinals of the ITA National Team Indoor Championship on Saturday afternoon at the Combe Tennis Center. With the win, the Tigers advance to the event’s semifinals for the first time in program history.

“A really big win against a really good team,” Auburn head coach Jordan Szabo said. “I think Simon Earnshaw is the best coach in the country. He’s my role model and the type of coach I want to be like. He had his team ready to go. We had a huge doubles point win, and Ashton’s serving was really clutch down the stretch.

“That was the story of the day. Ashton’s serving was huge against probably the best freshman in the country in Victoria Osuigwe, who has already clinched some big matches for NC State this year. There were so many good performances, with Eva fighting out there as a freshman and Ava Esposito picking up a really big win. This is definitely the biggest win since I’ve been at Auburn. This is where we want to be every year, and we’re excited to get a little rest. We’ll try to get Merna and some of the other girls back to 100 percent, but every team is feeling it at this point in the tournament. We’ll enjoy it tonight and get ready for a tough match with Georgia on Monday.”

NC State struck first in doubles with a 6-0 win on the top court. Auburn’s Angella Okutoyi and Ava Esposito, playing together for the first time this season, responded at the No. 2 position. The pair held on a deciding point to even the score at three against Jasmine Conway and Anna Zyryanova, then earned a break in the following game before closing out a 6-4 victory.

At No. 3 doubles, Ashton Bowers and Ekaterina Khairutdinova secured a break on a deciding point to take a 4-3 lead before defeating Mia Slama and Lavinia Tanasie 6-4 to clinch the doubles point.

Auburn carried the momentum into singles, winning five opening sets.

At No. 6 singles, an early break in the opening set by NC State’s Jasmine Conway gave her a 3-1 advantage over Auburn’s Ava Esposito at the No. 6 singles position, but Esposito came back to take the set 6-4, highlighted by a hold to love with two aces in the final game. Esposito continued her momentum in the second set, earning a break on a deciding point to take a 3-2 lead before ultimately securing a 6-4, 6-4 victory.

At the No. 1 singles position, DJ Bennett started strong against Mia Slama, winning four consecutive games to open the match before claiming the first set 6-2. Bennett then jumped out to a 3-1 lead in the second set and held serve the rest of the way to earn a 6-2, 6-4 win.

The victory marked Bennett’s second win in as many days and gave Auburn a 3-0 team lead. NC State responded with a win at No. 5 singles and forced third sets at the No. 2 and No. 3 positions.

At No. 4 singles, Bowers and Victoria Osuigwe traded games early before Bowers earned a break on a deciding point to take a 4-3 lead. Bowers closed out the first set 6-4, then won five consecutive games in the second set to take a 5-1 lead before clinching the match 6-4, 6-2 to secure the team victory.

The win improves Auburn’s record to 13-0 and marks the Tigers’ third top-15 victory of the season. Auburn will face top-ranked Georgia in the semifinals at 3:30 p.m. CT Monday at the Combe Tennis Center. The Tigers dropped a 4-1 decision to the Bulldogs in last season’s quarterfinal round of the event.

Live video and live scoring throughout the championship will be available at wearecollegetennis.com. Cracked Racquets will also provide broadcast-style coverage on its YouTube channel.

 

 

#4 Auburn 4, #9 NC State 1

Singles Results:

  1. #58 DJ Bennett (AUB) def. #36 Mia Slama (NCST) 6-2, 6-4
  2. Ekaterina Khairutdinova (AUB) vs. #43 Gabriella Broadfoot (NCST) 6-2, 1-6, 3-4, unfinished
  3. #84 Angella Okutoyi (AUB) vs. #110 Anna Zyryanova (NCST) 6-4, 4-6, 0-0, unfinished
  4. #30 Ashton Bowers (AUB) def. Victoria Osuigwe (NCST) 6-4, 6-2
  5. #18 Lavinia Tanasie (NCST) def. Eva Ionescu (AUB) 6-3, 6-3
  6. #31 Ava Esposito (AUB) def. Jasmine Conway (NCST) 6-4, 6-4

Doubles Results:

  1. Gabriella Broadfoot/Victoria Osuigwe (NCST) def. DJ Bennett/Stefani Webb (AUB) 6-0
  2. Angella Okutoyi/Ava Esposito (AUB) def. Jasmine Conway/Anna Zyryanova (NCST) 6-4
  3. Ashton Bowers/Ekaterina Khairutdinova (AUB) def. Mia Slama/Lavinia Tanasie (NCST) 6-4

 

Time of match: 2:37 Order of finish: Doubles: 1,2,3; Singles: 6,1,4 Official: Andrew Rogers