ATHENS, Ga. – No. 1 Auburn women’s tennis will play at the final site of the NCAA Championship for the first time in program history this weekend, beginning with the quarterfinals Friday at 9 a.m. CT at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex in Athens, Georgia. The championship’s semifinals will be played Saturday, and the national title match is scheduled for Sunday evening.
“I’m excited,” said Auburn head coach Jordan Szabo. “At this point of the year, we’ve all played plenty of tennis. We’re going to work really hard, but we need to enjoy ourselves. We’re there to win and compete, and I’ll do my best to be the leader.
“We have a plan for every situation that can unfold that is within our control, and we’re going to lay it all out on the line. If we don’t get the job done, it’s not going to be because of a lack of experience, preparation or leadership. I’m excited for it, and I’m excited for the girls to go through it this week.”
Auburn enters the quarterfinals after defeating Bryant and Miami to claim the Auburn Regional title before downing No. 15 Duke 4-2 in the super regional round Friday evening at the Yarbrough Tennis Center. Auburn senior Angella Okutoyi came back from dropping her first set and trailing 4-1 in the second to defeat Duke’s Liv Hovde 5-7, 7-5, 6-0 and clinch the team victory.
This season, Auburn holds a 35-3 overall record and has won nine straight matches. The Tigers earned a share of their first SEC regular-season championship with a 13-2 record in conference play and claimed the program’s first conference tournament title. The team is ranked No. 1 in both the ITA National Team Rankings and the UTR Sports College Team Rankings.
Auburn will face No. 10 LSU for the third time this season in Friday’s quarterfinal match. Auburn has won both meetings this season, winning 4-2 on the road in the regular season and 4-3 in the SEC Championship final in Norman, Oklahoma. LSU enters the match with a 22-9 overall record and an 8-7 mark in SEC play. The Tigers reached the NCAA Championship by defeating Stephen F. Austin and Rice in their home regional before upsetting No. 7 overall seed Virginia 4-1 in Charlottesville.
With a win Friday, Auburn would face either No. 4 Ohio State or No. 11 Pepperdine in the semifinals Saturday at 3 p.m. CT. The Buckeyes are 26-3 overall and went 12-1 in Big Ten play this season. They reached the finals of their conference tournament before falling to Michigan and have defeated Youngstown State, Notre Dame and No. 14 Vanderbilt in the NCAA Championship.
The Waves are 21-4 overall and have won 10 straight matches. Pepperdine claimed the WCC Championship before defeating UC Santa Barbara and Stanford, then upsetting No. 6 Oklahoma 4-3 in Norman in the super regional round.
The other teams in the quarterfinals are No. 2 Georgia, No. 3 Texas A&M, No. 5 North Carolina and No. 8 NC State. All quarterfinal matches will be played Friday, with Auburn and LSU opening the round at 9 a.m. CT. Both semifinal matches will be played at 3 and 6 p.m. CT on Saturday, with Auburn competing in the earlier match if it advances. The NCAA Championship match is scheduled for 6 p.m. CT Sunday.
Live streaming of all matches will be available on ESPN+, while individual court feeds will be available at GeorgiaDogs.com. Live scoring will also be provided at GeorgiaDogs.com.
Auburn in the rankings (ITA):
Singles:
16 – DJ Bennett
55 – Angella Okutoyi
58 – Ashton Bowers
68 – Ava Esposito
Doubles: