No. 4 Auburn women’s tennis team was narrowly defeated by top-ranked Georgia in the semifinals of the 2026 ITA National Team Indoor Championship at the Combe Tennis Center in Evanston, Illinois. The Tigers’ loss ended their deepest run at this championship in program history.
Auburn started strong by securing the doubles point and winning five opening sets in singles matches. Head coach Jordan Szabo commented on the team’s performance: “These are the positions we want to be in. Winning the doubles and winning five first sets is about as good a position as you can be in against the defending national champions, and that shows the quality of our team, even playing without Merna (Refaat).
“But we have to find ways to become mentally and physically tougher. If you give a team like Georgia an inch, they take a mile, and that’s what they did. They were much more composed down the stretch and were able to win three three-set matches. All the credit to Georgia. They’re the kind of program that we want to become. It’s been a great week and it shows what this team is capable of. The sky is the limit, and I’m hopeful this setback helps us grow and become better tennis players and a better team.”
In doubles play, Angella Okutoyi and Ava Esposito won their match 6-1 at No. 2 position against Anastasiia Lopata and Patricja Paukstyte from Georgia. After Georgia responded with a win at No. 1 doubles, Ekaterina Khairutdinova and Ashton Bowers clinched the decisive third match for Auburn.
Auburn extended its momentum into singles matches with Esposito defeating Sofia Rojas 6-4, 6-4 at No. 5 singles, giving Auburn a 2-0 lead overall.
Georgia answered with wins on other courts, including straight-set victories at No. 3 singles by Deniz Dilek over Angella Okutoyi (7-5, 6-1) and rallying performances that forced third sets on multiple courts.
Ashton Bowers earned another point for Auburn with her win over Anastasiia Gureva (6-4, 6-3), but Georgia narrowed Auburn’s lead through Emma Dong’s comeback against Eva Ionescu (3-6, 6-3, 6-3).
The deciding moments came as DJ Bennett lost to Anastasiia Lopata (1-6, 6-2, 6-4) after leading early on court one; finally Aysegul Mert secured victory for Georgia over Khairutdinova (3-6, 7-6(7–5), 6-4).
This result marked Auburn’s first defeat of the season after starting with thirteen consecutive wins while Georgia improved its record to four wins out of five matches so far this year.
Auburn will next host Grand Canyon University and Middle Tennessee State University in a doubleheader at home on Sunday.
