FIVE TO FOLLOW: A missing link returning for the No. 4 Tigers' rematch at No. 1 Georgia highlights Auburn's athletes to watch this week
Here are five Auburn athletes you should follow this week, including two competing in championship events, and two team newcomers who came up clutch in a tournament win.
Here’s a look at the storylines surrounding five Auburn athletes competing this week and weekend, and why you should follow their performances:
Merna Refaat
Sport: Tennis
Class: Sophomore
Court: Singles 4, doubles 2
Competing: 4 p.m. Thursday at South Carolina; 2 p.m. Saturday at Georgia
How to watch: South Carolina court cams; Georgia court cams
At 23-1 on the season, the No. 4 Auburn women’s tennis team has only lost one match so far this season: to No. 1 Georgia in the semifinals of ITA Indoor Nationals.
And going into the rematch between the Tigers and the top-ranked Bulldogs this weekend, only one thing is different about the matchup: Merna Refaat.
Refaat is the one regular Auburn starter who didn’t play for Auburn in the teams’ first game, on a neutral site at Northwestern at the indoor national tournament. In an earlier round of the tournament, Refaat injured her back during a doubles match and had to retire. She was replaced on the singles court and the Tigers had to re-shuffle their doubles lineup, pairing Refaat’s usual partner Angella Okutoyi with Ava Esposito for the rest of the weekend.
Auburn lost the match narrowly, 4-3, coming up just shy in its bid to close it out.
This time, Refaat will try to be the difference for the Tigers, in a lineup they hope will be 100-percent healthy this time around. Refaat in her last start won in straight sets against an opponent from Tennessee last Thursday at home, 7-5, 6-2.
Elizaveta Klevanovich
Sport: Swimming
Class: Graduate senior
Event: 50-yard freestyle
Competing: Preliminaries 10 a.m. Friday; Finals 6 p.m. Friday
How to watch: Prelims ESPN+ stream; Finals ESPN+ stream
At the NCAA Championships this week, Klevanovich is the highest-seeded qualifier for the Auburn women. She qualified for the national meet with a time of 21.55, with the 13th-best qualifying time. Her qualifying mark is just a tenth off the No. 8 qualifying mark, so a run to the national finals isn’t off the table for her.
If she makes the national finals, she’s a first-team All-American as the 1-8 finishers earn that designation in swimming. The 9-16 finishers at the national meet earn second-team All-American status, which is clearly in her sights.
Klevanovich has the experience to rise to the occasion, with this being her third appearance at the NCAA Championships.
She also qualified in the 100-yard freestyle with the nation’s No. 34 seed.
