AUBURN, Ala. – For the first time in program history, Auburn women’s tennis has won an SEC Championship. The No. 4 Tigers shut out No. 13 Vanderbilt 4-0 on Sunday afternoon at the Yarbrough Tennis Center to clinch a share of the SEC title. Auburn won the doubles point, then the three Auburn seniors each earned straight-set singles victories to clinch the win on Senior Day.
“It was a great day celebrating the seniors and winning an SEC title,” Auburn head coach Jordan Szabo said. “Couldn’t have scripted it any better with all three seniors winning their singles matches for a terrific way to put an exclamation mark on a great regular season with so many records broken. I think having three 4-0 wins to close out the regular season is really good going into the postseason. That was one of our big goals, to win an SEC title, and now we’ve done it. Now we have that monkey off our backs and we can play a little bit more free. I still think our best tennis is in front of us, and I think we’re getting closer to it.
“In doubles, finding a way to claw our way back from 5-2 double-break down against a pair that made the NCAA finals was excellent. We then had some big wins from some of our girls. Eva (Ionescu) was turning that match, Ashton (Bowers) won a big tiebreaker and Merna (Refaat) was a couple points away. It was a great day, a history-making day, and hopefully these girls will remember this for the rest of their lives.”
Auburn’s Ashton Bowers and Ekaterina Khairutdinova picked up their 24th win this spring at the No. 3 doubles position, defeating Vanderbilt’s Erin Pearce and Mia Yamakita 6-3. The Commodores then responded with a win at the No. 2 position to set up a winner take all on court one.
On the top doubles court, Vanderbilt’s Celia-Belle Mohr and Sophia Webster jumped out to a 4-1 lead over Auburn’s DJ Bennett and Ava Esposito. Trailing 2-5, Bennett and Esposito then won two breaks in three games to tie the match at 5-5 and force a tiebreaker. The Auburn pair won the tiebreaker 7-2 to complete the comeback and claim the doubles point.
DJ Bennett and Ava Esposito clinch the doubles point in a tiebreaker! 💪#WarEagle pic.twitter.com/rvipCTaCCH
— Auburn Women's Tennis (@AuburnWTennis) April 12, 2026
Auburn kept the momentum from doubles, winning the opening set on five courts to begin singles.
Two early breaks helped Auburn’s Angella Okutoyi take a 4-1 lead in the opening set before closing it out 6-2 over Vanderbilt’s Erin Pearce. Okutoyi then dominated the second set, winning six consecutive games to close out the match 6-2, 6-1. The Auburn senior’s dual-match record is now 16-2 this season and 9-1 in SEC matches.
Angella Okutoyi gives Auburn a 2-0 lead 👊#WarEagle pic.twitter.com/PVAcivfzGc
— Auburn Women's Tennis (@AuburnWTennis) April 12, 2026
On the top singles court, Bennett and Bridget Stammel went back and forth early in the first set until Bennett earned a break to take a 4-2 lead. The Auburn senior then won the next two games, including a break at 30 in the final game, to win the set 6-2. Bennett opened the second set with four straight games and ultimately won the match 6-2, 6-1 over the sixth-ranked singles player in the nation to give the Tigers a 3-0 lead.
At the No. 2 singles position, Auburn’s Ekaterina Khairutdinova took each of the first three games over Vanderbilt’s Valeria Ray and later took the first set 6-2. Khairutdinova took an early second-set lead before Ray came back to tie the set at three. The two sides then held serve until the Auburn senior earned a deciding-point break in the final game to win the match 6-2, 6-4 to clinch the team victory and begin the celebration with her teammates.
The win elevated Auburn into a three-way tie at the top of the SEC standings at 13-2 in conference play. The program’s previous best conference finish was a second-place finish in 2022 when the team posted an 11-2 SEC record. Auburn’s overall record improved to 29-3 this season and remained undefeated at home at 19-0.
Up next, Auburn will travel to the 2026 SEC Championship at the Headington Family Tennis Center in Norman, Oklahoma. The Tigers will be the No. 3 seed at the tournament and begin play in the quarterfinals on Friday at 9 a.m. CT against an opponent that is still to be determined.
#4 Auburn 4, #13 Vanderbilt 0
Singles Results:
- #37 DJ Bennett (AUB) def. #6 Bridget Stammel (VANDY) 6-2, 6-1
- #49 E. Khairutdinova (AUB) def. Valeria Ray (VANDY) 6-2, 6-4
- #72 Angella Okutoyi (AUB) def. #24 Erin Pearce (VANDY) 6-2, 6-1
- Merna Refaat (AUB) vs. #121 Mia Yamakita (VANDY) 6-4, 5-4, unfinished
- #48 Ashton Bowers (AUB) vs. Sophia Webster (VANDY) 7-6, 1-3, unfinished
- Eva Ionescu (AUB) vs. Trinetra Vijayakumar (VANDY) 4-6, 5-4, unfinished
Doubles Results:
- #3 DJ Bennett/Ava Esposito (AUB) def. #7 Celia-Belle Mohr/Sophia Webster (VANDY) 7-6 (7-2)
- #10 Valeria Ray/Bridget Stammel (VANDY) def. #18 Angella Okutoyi/Merna Refaat (AUB) 6-3
- Ashton Bowers/E. Khairutdinova (AUB) def. Erin Pearce/Mia Yamakita (VANDY) 6-3
Time of match: 3:00 Order of finish: Doubles: 3,2,1; Singles: 3,1,2 Official: Donna Jerome