ATHENS, Ga. – No. 1 Auburn women’s tennis defeated No. 10 LSU by a 4-1 score on Friday morning in the NCAA Championship quarterfinals at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex, the Tigers' 10th consecutive win.
Auburn started the match with doubles wins at the No. 2 and No. 3 doubles positions, then picked up singles victories from Ekaterina Khairutdinova, Angella Okutoyi and Eva Ionescu to earn their third victory over LSU this season.
After defeating the Bengal Tigers twice during the season, Auburn rallied to claim the doubles point thanks to a 6-4 win from Angella Okutoyi and Merna Refaat at No. 2, and a 6-3 triumph from Ekaterina Khairutdinova and Ashton Bowers at No. 3.
LSU stormed back early in singles play, taking first sets on five of six courts, with only Khairutdinova on court 2 prevailing for Auburn. Khairutdinova earned Auburn’s second point with a 7-6, 6-4 win over LSU’s Kayla Cross.
On court 3, Okutoyi earned Auburn’s third point with a 1-6, 6-4, 6-4 win over Ella McDonald.
As she did in the SEC tournament final, Eva Ionescu clinched the match for Auburn on court 6, defeating Kinaa Graham 4-6, 6-0, 7-5.
Auburn (36-3) will face the winner of Friday afternoon’s match between No. 4 Ohio State and No. 11 Pepperdine in the NCAA Championship semifinals. Saturday’s semifinal match is scheduled for 3 p.m. CT.
Live streaming of all matches during the NCAA Championship will be available on ESPN+, while individual court feeds will be available at GeorgiaDogs.com. Live scoring will also be provided at GeorgiaDogs.com.