TO THE TITLE MATCH: Auburn takes down Ohio State in the semifinals, advances to Sunday's national championship final
The Tigers' incredible run will continue to the national championship match.
Auburn left no doubt — from the jump.
From the beginning of doubles point, and into the first sets in singles, the Tigers played like a team on a mission Saturday: a mission to be part of Sunday’s national championship match.
The Auburn women’s tennis team took down Ohio State 4-1 on Saturday in the NCAA Tournament’s national semifinal. Unlike in Friday’s Elite Eight match against LSU, which saw the Tigers start with tentativeness, Auburn was all over Ohio State from the start. Auburn crushed third-seeded Ohio State by multiple breaks in doubles on Courts 1 and 2, then in singles won the first set on four courts.
In the end, it was Merna Refaat who clinched it, roaring back into the lineup and defeating Ohio State’s Audrey Spencer 6-3, 6-2 on Court 4.
Refaat was benched Friday for the quarterfinal against LSU, as part of a strategic decision that Auburn head coach Jordan Szabo thought would give the Tigers a higher number of favorable matchups across the six courts. Playing like a consummate teammate, Refaat on Saturday got right back on the court and won in doubles 6-1 alongside Angella Okutoyi.
Their 6-1 win and the 6-3 win for Auburn by DJ Bennett and Ava Esposito sent the Tigers to singles with a 1-0 lead. Against LSU — in Auburn’s first match in program history at the NCAA Championship’s final site — Auburn lost the first set on five different courts and had to dig deep to turn the match around and win from come-from-behind fashion.
It was no such match on Saturday: It was Tigers on top, instead, with Auburn flexing its muscle and particularly its depth.
Ava Esposito won in straight sets on Court 6, winning 7-5, 6-0 — cruising with a bagel in the second set. Angella Okutoyi won in straight sets as well at 6-4, 6-3 — flinging her racket in celebration on Court 3 when her opponent’s last shot went wide.
Nearby on Court 4, Refaat had to hear the commotion — as she simultaneously served for her match. She held to 15, laying in a big serve on the winning match point, before putting down another strong forehand on the return, and it was one Ohio State couldn’t handle as the ball went long and Refaat jumped up and down.
Auburn had never gotten past the Sweet Sixteen before in its program history, but Sunday will play in the NCAA Tournament’s national championship final.
Auburn will play the winner of Saturday night’s semifinal between top-seeded Georgia and No. 4-seeded Texas A&M.
Auburn has history with both: Auburn lost to Georgia at the ITA National Indoors tournament on Feb. 9 in Illinois, and lost to UGA again back on March 21 in regular-season SEC play. Georgia had home-court advantage in that match. The Bulldogs would have home-court advantage again should they advance to the championship, as the NCAA Championships are being played in Athens, Ga., this year.
Texas A&M beat Auburn in the regular season April 2 in College Station, but Auburn was able to beat Texas A&M in the rematch on a neutral site in the SEC Tournament semifinals.