Auburn women’s tennis will host the NCAA super regional for the first time in program history on May 7, facing No. 15 Duke at the Yarbrough Tennis Center. The match is scheduled for Friday at 5 p.m. Central Time, with free admission for fans.
The event marks Auburn’s sixth appearance in the round of 16 and represents a significant moment for the program as it seeks to advance further than ever before. The winner of this matchup will secure a spot in the NCAA quarterfinals, which will be held at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex in Athens, Georgia, on May 15.
Head coach Jordan Szabo said, “The team is pumped up and excited to be hosting. They’re getting so much attention and love, which they definitely appreciate. They realize the opportunity that is ahead of them. Hopefully, we’ll get an amazing crowd out there, and we can give our best effort and play close to our best. If we do, we’ll feel really good about where we’ll be on Friday evening.” Szabo also commented on fan support: “The thing that’s great about the Auburn crowd is that they’re passionate and they bring great energy, but they’re respectful and understand tennis. It creates a great environment not only for us to play well, but also for the other team.”
This match serves as a rematch from last season’s NCAA Super Regional held in Durham, North Carolina, where Duke won narrowly after Auburn reached match point in two singles matches while trailing 3-2.
Auburn enters as the No. 2 overall seed with a record of 34-3 this season and an eight-match winning streak under Szabo’s leadership. The Tigers have claimed their first Southeastern Conference regular-season championship share with a conference record of 13-2 and their first conference tournament title. The team has achieved twelve victories over top-25 teams this year and remains undefeated at home with a perfect record at Yarbrough Tennis Center.
Duke comes into Friday’s contest as No. 15 overall seed after winning its regional by defeating VCU and Tennessee at home; it holds an overall season record of 20-7 with strong performance (10-2) in Atlantic Coast Conference play last year reaching quarterfinals before falling to Georgia.
Szabo said about Duke: “They’re a good team,” he said “They went to national indoors and took two losses, which is probably why they’re a little underrated… It’s going to be a really tough match because they have great players on every line.” He added praise for Jamie Ashworth: “Jamie Ashworth…has won a national title there so they know how to get the job done…our teams are very different than last year.”
For fans attending Friday evening’s match there will be complimentary Moe’s BBQ and Kona Ice while supplies last; additional information can be found at AuburnTigers.com/MatchDay.
