A 4-2 victory over No.22 Arizona State earned No.11 Auburn their first Sweet 16 spot in program history. The Tigers battled back from a 1-0 deficit to defeat the Sun Devils Saturday at Yarbrough Tennis Center.
"I am very proud this this team,” said Auburn coach Lauren Spencer. “The grit and determination they have shown all year has been very impressive. It is very deserving that this team is the first team in program history to reach the Sweet 16.”
Auburn dropped the doubles point and five of six Tigers dropped their first set in singles play. No.31 Alizee Michaud earned Auburn’s first win of the match, defeating No.110 Kassidy Jump 2-6, 6-4, 6-2 to tie the match at 1. Pleun Burgmans followed with a win over Ebony Panoho 4-6, 6-1, 6-1 to gain a 2-1 Tiger lead, but the Sun Devils quickly responded to tie the match at 2.
“We started off very slow and we did not play as well in doubles as we are capable of,” said Spencer. “For a while, we didn’t look that good in singles either, but we finally settled down and started playing our tennis.”
Alanna Griffin defeated Arizona State’s Stephanie Vlad 4-6, 6-4, 6-1 to give Auburn a 3-2 lead, and No.20 Andie Dikosavljevic clinched the match for Auburn with a 1-6, 7-5, 6-4 win over No.35 Desirae Krawczyk.
The Tigers will face No.6 Vanderbilt Thursday at 9 a.m. in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
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