To the Final Four! Here’s how Auburn took down NC State to advance to indoor nationals semifinals
Insights and highlights from Auburn’s quarterfinals win, including clutch play from a Tiger stepping in for an injured teammate.
Ava Esposito came up clutch for Auburn stepping in for an injured teammate, DJ Bennett was dominant in singles competition again, and Ashton Bowers sent the match winner down the line to send Auburn women’s tennis to the semifinals of the ITA National Team Indoors tournament on Saturday in Illinois.
Top-seeded Auburn took down fifth-seeded NC State 4-1 to make the indoors Final Four.
“Amazing win for us,” Auburn head coach Jordan Szabo said after the match on the Cracked Racquets broadcast. “Biggest win since I’ve been at Auburn, for sure.”
One step closer to a championship ring, the Tigers will next play rival, reigning No. 1 and defending NCAA Championship winner Georgia in the tournament semifinals at 3:30 p.m. Monday, still on Northwestern’s campus. The match will be streamed free on the Cracked Racquets YouTube channel.
It was closer than the final score indicated, with two other matches headed to third sets when it was called. Given that, the doubles point was huge — and Esposito was huge in securing the doubles point for Auburn.
Esposito came in to team with Angella Okutoyi for the first time this season, in place of teammate Merna Refaat, who was injured while playing alongside Okutoyi in the team’s round-of-16 win over Northwestern on Friday. Refaat and Okutoyi had to retire out of that match due to Refaat’s hurting back. Esposito wasn’t a starter in Auburn’s doubles lineup in the first round, but stepped in against NC State — and with Auburn losing on Court 1 and winning on Court 3, the first-time teamup of Esposito and Okutoyi picked up a 6-4 win together on Court 2.
Esposito came up clutch again in singles on Court 6, winning 6-4, 6-4 over NC State’s Jasmine Conway.
At match point up 40-15, Esposito sent a strong serve over that Conway sent back long to clinch the point for the Tigers.
DJ Bennett dominant again in singles
Auburn head coach Jordan Szabo insists DJ Bennett is still one of the best women’s college tennis players in the country — and she’s looking more and more like it this February.
Bennett on Court 1 quickly broke NC State’s Mia Slama in the first game of the first set and cruised to a 6-2 win in the opening set. In the second set, Bennett broke Slama’s serve in Game 1 and that was enough to allow Bennett to serve it out up 5-4 after both players held serve from there. Up 40-15, Bennett put Slama on the run on the baseline before slamming down an overhead winner at the net to close out the match.