TIGERS ON TOP: Auburn finishes weekend in sole possession of first place in SEC standings
Here are insights and video highlights of Auburn's shutout of Kentucky on Saturday, plus what's next for a Tigers team in control of its own destiny chasing a conference championship.
It’s Auburn on top.
Still undefeated in SEC play, the Auburn women’s tennis team took over sole possession of first place in the conference standings after the week’s matchups, taking down Tennessee and Kentucky while some cannibalism at the top left wreckage elsewhere.
Auburn swept Kentucky 4-0 on Saturday to move to an impressive 23-1 on the season and a perfect 7-0 so far in conference. Auburn’s ranked No. 1 in the latest UTR rankings and No. 3 in the more widely cited ITA rankings.
By virtue of a loss by previously unbeaten Texas A&M to top-ranked Georgia on Thursday, Auburn became the last undefeated team left standing in the SEC. Georgia then lost Saturday to Texas, who’d lost previously to Texas A&M.
What it means: Auburn is in control of its own destiny — and currently taking care of business, like it did Saturday with a sweep of visiting Kentucky at Yarbrough Tennis Center.
“The ball’s in our court in the SEC,” Auburn head coach Jordan Szabo said courtside Saturday after the win. “Everyone has a loss but us. So if we can go control what we can control and take care of business, the crown will be ours — but there’s a lot of work to do. We do have a bit of cushion in SEC play now with all the teams taking some losses, but every team is good. If we don’t bring it, we’ll lose. It doesn’t matter who we play.
“So that’s something I’ve been challenging the girls: It doesn’t matter if we’re playing Kentucky or we’re playing Georgia or we’re playing Alabama State or we’re playing each other in practice, we’ve got to maintain our intensity and the standard and the energy that is required to be a national championship team.”
Here’s how Auburn fared in that effort Saturday against Kentucky, with insights and highlights to yet another Auburn win, and a look ahead toward a massive showdown looming large next weekend:
Bennett bounces back in a big way
Auburn ace DJ Bennett was the first to finish in singles, winning in straight sets — and bouncing back from a loss Thursday in Auburn’s match with Tennessee.
That was a bit of an atypical draw: Bennett matched up with pro player Katrina Scott, who has played in all four Grand Slams, and the 21-year-old is now playing a season with the Lady Vols in the NCAA’s new NIL era.
While there was no shame in that loss, Bennett could’ve let the loss linger especially going up against an opponent from Kentucky that she lost to last year in Zoe Hammond.
Instead: Bennett won 6-3, 6-2.
Bennett and Hammond started their first set with four straight breaks, before Bennett finally held to go up 3-2.
Then, she broke to love, winning every point of the next game, capped by an overhead smash to go up 4-2:
In the second set, with both sides on serve, Bennett broke to 30 to go up 4-2. Then she held to 15 to go up 5-2.
College tennis 101
To “hold to” 15 (or 30 or 40) means to have won that game while serving with the opponent having had finished the game with that score. To “break to” that number would be to win when the opponent is scoring. Of course, holding the opponent to 0, in tennis, is holding them to “love.”
With the chance to serve out the match, Bennett did just that — in dominating fashion — holding to love and ending it with an ace that caught the sideline on match point.
Bennett and doubles partner Ava Esposito were also part of Auburn’s doubles-point win to start the match — and her singles win put Auburn up 2-0.
“I felt pretty good, coming after a loss against Tennessee on Thursday,” Bennett said. “I wanted to come out and really bring it. I also lost to the girl that I played from Kentucky last year, so it was really nice to get a win against her.”