The Auburn women’s tennis team defeated Missouri 4-0 on April 10 at the Yarbrough Tennis Center, keeping their undefeated home record intact. The Tigers secured the win with a doubles point and straight-set singles victories from DJ Bennett, Ekaterina Khairutdinova, and Ava Esposito.
The result is significant as it improves Auburn’s overall season record to 28-3 and conference record to 12-2. With this victory, Auburn remains tied with Texas A&M for first place in the Southeastern Conference standings. An additional win on Sunday would guarantee at least a share of the SEC title for Auburn.
Head coach Jordan Szabo said after the match, “It’s an awesome win for the team. Anytime you can win a match and not lose a set, it’s pretty impressive, especially in the SEC. Missouri’s obviously had a tough year, but they were fighting hard and I feel like we get everybody’s best.” Szabo also noted that having several days between matches allowed players to rest: “We haven’t played since Saturday, which is our longest break in between matches since after ITA Indoors, so it was nice to get home with beautiful weather and perfect conditions to play good tennis. Even after the girls had tight first sets, they were sprinting through the finish line and playing better as the match went on. Got out of there in under two hours to get a little rest. We’ll get a great practice tomorrow and get ready for Senior Day on Sunday.”
In doubles play, Bennett and Esposito won their match at No. 1 position by defeating Gian Octa and Lara Quaglia 6-2. Khairutdinova paired with Ashton Bowers for another victory at No. 3 doubles (6-1), clinching the opening point for Auburn; this pair now holds a spring record of 23 wins against two losses.
During singles competition, all six Auburn players won their opening sets before Bennett defeated No. 49 Gian Octa (6-0, 6-3), Khairutdinova overcame Korina Roso (6-2, 6-2), and Esposito secured her own straight-set win over Zoe Lazar (6-2, 6-2) to clinch both her individual match and overall team victory.
Auburn will close out its regular season at home against Vanderbilt on Sunday during Senior Day celebrations honoring seniors DJ Bennett, Angella Okutoyi, and Ekaterina Khairutdinova.
