No. 4 Women’s tennis defeats No. 6 Texas 4-0 on the road

Box Score
No. 4 Women’s tennis defeats No. 6 Texas 4-0 on the roadNo. 4 Women’s tennis defeats No. 6 Texas 4-0 on the road

AUSTIN, Texas – No. 4 Auburn women’s tennis earned its fourth victory of the season over a top-10 opponent on Saturday afternoon, shutting out No. 6 Texas 4-0 at the Weller Tennis Center in Austin. The Tigers won the doubles point followed by singles victories from Ekaterina Khairutdinova, Ashton Bowers and Ava Esposito.

“It was really good to bounce back after a really tough night on Thursday, and we looked more like ourselves battling on all six singles courts and all three doubles courts,” Auburn head coach Jordan Szabo said. “It really helps when Ava (Esposito) and Ashton (Bowers) get really quick wins. It wasn’t easy for Ashton after playing at Texas last year to go out and have two convincing wins. Other girls were turning matches. Angie (Okutoyi), Merna (Refaat) and DJ (Bennett) were hanging in there.

“That was a signature win for Katya (Khairutdinova) since she’s been at Auburn to clinch the match. She had a really disappointing day on Thursday, so for her to come through in the clutch and find a way to put the fourth point on the board for us was really good. I think this is a win that will really set up the rest of our season. Our goals are all ahead of us and now it’s time to enjoy Easter, a couple days off and get ready for Senior Weekend.”

In doubles, Khairutdinova and Bowers jumped out to a 4-1 lead over Carmen Herea and Mathilde Ngijol-Carré and ultimately took the match 6-2 to set the tone early. On the top doubles court, Esposito and DJ Bennett dominated late in their match over Texas’ Anastasia Abbagnato and Salma Drugdova and won 6-2. The win clinched the 26th doubles point of the season for the Tigers.

Each team won three opening sets to begin singles play, with Khairutdinova, Bowers and Esposito winning their respective sets for Auburn.

At the No. 6 singles position, Esposito served a bagel against Texas’ Kate Mansfield in the first set. In the second set, Esposito took a 4-1 lead and went on to win in straight sets 6-0, 6-2. Esposito’s 25th overall victory of the season and 15th dual-match win extended Auburn’s lead to 2-0.

Texas’ Elizabeth Ionescu won each of the first two games of her opening set against Bowers, but the Auburn sophomore came back to win the set 6-3. Bowers then carried that momentum into the second set, winning each of the first four games before closing out a 6-3, 6-2 win and gave the Tigers a 3-0 lead.

Khairutdinova claimed a close 7-5 opening set over Texas’ Anastasia Abbagnato at the No. 2 position. The two traded games throughout the second set until the Auburn senior earned a break at 5-5 to take a 6-5 lead and held serve in the final game to win 7-5, 7-5 and clinch the team victory for the Tigers. Khairutdinova’s win over the 12th-ranked singles player in the nation marks her highest-ranked victory of the season.

At the time of Khairutdinova’s victory, Auburn’s Merna Refaat had forced a third set at the No. 4 position, Angella Okutoyi was leading 5-4 in her second set at the No. 3 position and DJ Bennett was in a second-set tiebreaker on the top singles court.

The win improves Auburn’s record to 27-3 overall and 11-2 in conference play. The Tigers will play their final two matches of the regular season at home, facing Missouri on Thursday at 5 p.m. CT and No. 11 Vanderbilt on Sunday at noon CT. Live coverage of both matches will be available online at AuburnTigers.com, and admission to both matches at the Yarbrough Tennis Center will be free.

 

 

#4 Auburn 4, #6 Texas 0

Singles Results:

  1. #3 Carmen Herea (TEX) vs. #38 DJ Bennett (AUB) 6-3, 6-6 (7-6), unfinished
  2. #80 E. Khairutdinova (AUB) def. #12 Anastasia Abbagnato (TEX) 7-5, 7-5
  3. #49 Eszter Meri (TEX) vs. #69 Angella Okutoyi (AUB) 7-5, 4-5, unfinished
  4. Christasha McNeil (TEX) vs. Merna Refaat (AUB) 6-4, 4-6, 1-2, unfinished
  5. #44 Ashton Bowers (AUB) def. Elizabeth Ionescu (TEX) 6-3, 6-2
  6. #55 Ava Esposito (AUB) def. Kate Mansfield (TEX) 6-0, 6-2

Doubles Results:

  1. #10 DJ Bennett/Ava Esposito (AUB) def. #31 Anastasia Abbagnato/Salma Drugdova (TEX) 6-2
  2. #88 Elizabeth Ionescu/Christasha McNeil (TEX) vs. #21 Angella Okutoyi/Merna Refaat (AUB) 4-3, unfinished
  3. E. Khairutdinova/Ashton Bowers (AUB) def. Carmen Herea/ Mathilde Ngijol-Carré (TEX) 6-2

 

Time of match: 2:29 Order of finish: Doubles: 3,1; Singles: 6,5,2