NORMAN, Okla. – After claiming a share of the first SEC title in program history on Sunday, No. 3 Auburn women’s tennis will begin its run at the SEC championship on Friday morning at the Headington Family Tennis Center in Norman.
“I think the key to this weekend is just playing loose and playing our game,” Auburn head coach Jordan Szabo said. “We’ve got the championship under our belts now, we know how to do it. To finally have that, the team probably has a little bit more swagger about themselves and I think that was really important for us to take that next step. Even though we’re a championship-caliber team, now we’re a championship team.
“Now it’s just about getting back to playing our tennis, playing loose and keep going for our shots. We’re an aggressive team. If we play loose and play one day at a time, we’re going to be really hard to beat. There’s going to be challenges because every team we play is going to be really good. We’ve been fortunate to win so many doubles points and Sunday was a great example of finding a way to save match points to win the doubles point. When we win the doubles, I feel like it’s hard to beat us.”
The Tigers, the tournament’s No. 3 seed, will face the winner of Thursday morning’s match between No. 12 Florida and Arkansas at 9 a.m. CT on Friday in the quarterfinals. With a win Friday, Auburn would advance to the semifinals Saturday at noon CT, and another win would send the team to the championship match Sunday at 3 p.m. CT.
Auburn finished the regular season with a 29-3 overall record and a 13-2 record in conference play. The team’s 29 victories set the program record for most wins in a season, and its 13-2 SEC mark earned a share of the SEC title with Oklahoma and Texas A&M. The Tigers closed the regular season with three consecutive 4-0 shutout victories, including a Senior Day win over No. 13 Vanderbilt on Sunday.
Auburn senior DJ Bennett will enter the championship after winning both of her singles and doubles matches over the weekend. Bennett defeated No. 49 Gian Octa of Missouri and No. 6 Bridget Stammel of Vanderbilt in straight sets at the top singles position. Bennett and doubles partner Ava Esposito helped the Tigers secure the doubles point in both matches and made program history on Tuesday when they became the first Auburn pair to reach No. 2 in the ITA doubles rankings. The pair holds a 14-1 record in dual matches this season.
Last season as the host school for the SEC championship, Auburn defeated Vanderbilt in the quarterfinals 4-2 before falling in a tight match to then-No. 1 Texas A&M by a 4-3 score in the semifinals. The run marked the program’s third SEC championship semifinal appearance and the first since 2017.
Live video and live scoring of Friday’s match will be available online at SoonerSports.com. The semifinals will be streamed live on SEC Network+ on Saturday, and Sunday’s championship match will be televised on SEC Network.
Auburn in the rankings (ITA):
Singles:
23 – DJ Bennett
55 – Ashton Bowers
64 – Ava Esposito
70 – Angella Okutoyi
Doubles:
18 – Angella Okutoyi/Merna Refaat
44 – Angella Okutoyi/Ava Esposito
87 – Ashton Bowers/DJ Bennett