No. 2 Women’s tennis blanks Mississippi State 7-0

No. 2 Women’s tennis blanks Mississippi State 7-0No. 2 Women’s tennis blanks Mississippi State 7-0

AUBURN, Ala. – No. 2 Auburn women’s tennis shut out Mississippi State 7-0 on Thursday evening at the Yarbrough Tennis Center in Auburn, Alabama.

“I thought we did a good job in the doubles,” Auburn head coach Jordan Szabo said. “They’ve done pretty well in doubles this year, and we really responded after losing the last doubles point. We were able to build some leads on some courts early on. I was really impressed by Eva (Ionescu) getting the job done quickly out there. She’s just improved tremendously as a tennis player since she’s been here, and she’s starting to click.

“I’m pleased that the girls found a way to win. We’ve been challenging players with finding ways to win regardless of who you are playing or how you’re feeling. I’m pleased with the win, but it’s time to rest up. Hopefully we can get a great crowd on Saturday for Alabama. We’re looking forward to taking them down in a big rivalry match.”

The Auburn duo of Ashton Bowers and Ekaterina Khairutdinova set the tone in doubles, serving a bagel against Emma Cohen and Thessy Ntondele Zinga at the No. 3 position for their 20th victory together this season. At No. 2 doubles, Mississippi State’s Gianna Oboniye and Athina Pitta took an early 2-0 lead over Auburn’s Angella Okutoyi and Merna Refaat, but the Auburn pair won the next six games to take the match 6-2 and clinch the doubles point.

Auburn opened singles with four first-set victories.

Auburn freshman Eva Ionescu dominated at the No. 6 singles position, defeating Athina Pitta 6-0, 6-3 to give the Tigers a 2-0 lead. The win improved Ionescu’s dual match singles record to 9-3 this season and 2-0 in SEC play.

At the No. 2 position, Okutoyi won the first five games in the opening set against Ntondele Zinga before taking it 6-2. With the second set tied at 1, the Auburn senior won a deciding point to take a 2-1 lead and followed with four straight games to win the match 6-2, 6-1 and extend Auburn’s lead to 3-0.

Bowers pulled away late in the first set against Carolina Troiano at the No. 4 singles position, then controlled the second set to win 7-5, 6-2. The victory improved her record to 26-3 overall and a perfect 16-0 in dual matches this season. The win clinched the team victory for the Tigers and gave them a 4-0 lead.

After the match was clinched, Auburn forced third sets at the No. 1 and No. 5 positions, while Mississippi State forced a third set on court three. After dropping the opening set on the top court 6-4, Auburn’s DJ Bennett responded with a 6-3 second-set win to force a 10-point match tiebreaker against Charlotte Kempenaers-Pocz. Kempenaers-Pocz led 5-3 in the tiebreak, but Bennett rallied to tie it at 5 before closing out a 10-8 win.

Auburn’s Ava Esposito won her match tiebreaker 10-5 over Mia Robinson at the No. 5 position, and Refaat closed the match with a 6-1, 2-6, 6-4 victory over Chiara Di Genova to secure the 7-0 final.

The win improves Auburn’s record to 25-2 overall and 9-1 in conference play, which leads the SEC standings. The Tigers remain undefeated at the Yarbrough Tennis Center this season, improving to 16-0 at home. Auburn also extended its winning streak against Mississippi State to six matches and improved its all-time series lead to 36-17.

Up next, Auburn will host the Iron Bowl of Tennis against Alabama on Saturday at noon CT. Fans in attendance at Saturday’s match will receive vintage women’s tennis T-shirts while supplies last, and wooden egg painting will be available.

More fan information is available at AuburnTigers.com/MatchDay. Live video and live scoring of Saturday’s match will be available at AuburnTigers.com.

 

#2 Auburn 7, #44 Mississippi State 0

Singles Results:

  1. #43 DJ Bennett (AUB) def. Cha Kempenaers-Pocz (MSST) 4-6, 6-3, 1-0 (10-8)
  2. #94 Angella Okutoyi (AUB) def. Thessy Ntondele Zinga (MSST) 6-2, 6-1
  3. #122 Merna Refaat (AUB) def. Chiara Di Genova (MSST) 6-1, 2-6, 6-4
  4. #38 Ashton Bowers (AUB) def. Carolina Troiano (MSST) 7-5, 6-2
  5. #49 Ava Esposito (AUB) def. Mia Robinson (MSST) 6-7 (7-9), 6-4, 1-0 (10-5)
  6. Eva Ionescu (AUB) def. Athina Pitta (MSST) 6-0, 6-3

Doubles Results:

  1. #16 DJ Bennett/Ava Esposito (AUB) vs. #55 Chiara Di Genova/Cha Kempenaers-Pocz (MSST) 4-2, unfinished
  2. #20 Angella Okutoyi/Merna Refaat (AUB) def. #22 Gianna Oboniye/Athina Pitta (MSST) 6-2
  3. Ashton Bowers/E. Khairutdinova (AUB) def. Emma Cohen/ Thessy Ntondele Zinga (MSST) 6-0

 

Time of match: 2:34 Order of finish: Doubles: 3,2; Singles: 6,2,4,1,5,3 Official: Donna Jerome