No. 4 Auburn women’s tennis has punched its ticket to ITA Indoor Nationals. Here’s what that means, and what’s next
Angella Okutoyi was big for Auburn in both doubles and singles, and Ekaterina Khairutdinova continued her hot streak in Auburn's victory over Florida State.
Auburn’s Ava Esposito made it crystal in an interview earlier this season when she was asked what the Tigers were focused on:
“All we talk about is getting a ring,” she said, point blank. “That’s our goal. SECs, indoors, NCAAs — we want all of them. That’s what we talk about.”
Their first opportunity has arrived:
The Tigers over the weekend punched their ticket to the ITA National Team Indoor Championship, and will vie for the title in Illinois in early February. The ITA indoor national tournament is different from the NCAA Championship tournament held outdoors at the end of the season, obviously with it being indoors but also with only 16 teams making it to the dance after in-season qualifiers. But the championship, like the NCAA national championship, is still one of the most coveted prizes in college tennis, and a landmark on the tennis season’s calendar.
Auburn will play in the opening rounds Feb. 6-8 at either Illinois or Northwestern, with the semifinals and finals then scheduled for Feb. 9-10 at Northwestern.
Auburn is ranked No. 4 in the country in the early season rankings, holding serious championship aspirations, and indoor nationals will give the Tigers their chance to show where they stand with some of the nation’s other top teams.
Here’s a look at how Auburn advanced, and what the trip to Illinois will mean for the team:
How Auburn advanced
Auburn swept through Tulane on Saturday then Florida State on Sunday on ITA Kickoff Weekend to qualify.
On Kickoff Weekend, 16 host sites see four teams each play out a small bracket with spots at indoor nationals on the line. Auburn hosted over the weekend, and at home took care of business with a 4-0 win over Tulane then a 4-0 win against Florida State.
Against Florida State, Auburn picked up the doubles point, and from there, runaway wins on Court 5, Court 3 and Court 2 were enough to seal it.
“It was a great performance and I think our best match of the year,” head coach Jordan Szabo said in a release from the university.
Angella Okutoyi clinched the match on Court 2 against Florida State’s Millie Bissett, who was ranked No. 44 in the country in the individual rankings in the fall. Okutoyi dropped her 6-1, 6-1. She broke to win the match. On match point, Okutoyi and Bissett entered into a crosscourt forehand rally, and after a fortuitous bounce off the net landed in for Okutoyi, Bissett’s return went into the net to end it.
In an earlier point in the same game, Okutoyi won by way of a nasty slice. She pushed Bissett into the corner with a deep backhand crosscourt shot, then Bissett returned it, Okutoyi dropped it to the opposite side with some gnarly spin. A chasing Bissett off balance and against that spin put the ball into the net, moving Okutoyi one step closer to the match — and the Tigers one step closer to the win.
Tigers take the doubles point
Okutoyi also came up big for Auburn during the doubles point.