Women's tennis freshmen Alannah Griffin and Caroline Turner competed in their first tournament for the Tigers last weekend at the Mercer Bears Gridiron Classic, combining to snag 11 wins and two championships in their respective brackets.
Turner started Friday with two wins over Georgia State's Trani Kamoe (6-3, 6-2) and Emy Aplund from Coastal Georgia 6-0, 6-0. Turner advanced to the semifinals with a win over Abbie Mather from Belmont (6-3, 6-2), going on to clinch the C Singles championship after a 6-4, 6-4 win over Nancy Karaky from Trory in the semifinals.
Turner took the champsionship with a 6-4, 6-2 win over Lara Vovk from Georgia State.
"This was a great confidence booster for our freshman," said head coach Lauren Longbotham Meisner. "They played a lot of tennis and competed really well."
Griffin advanced to the finals of the B Singles bracket before falling to Kristin Rehse of Georgia State (6-4, 7-6). Griffin beat Brianna Thomspon from Charleston State 6-2, 6-3 after a bye in the first round. Saturday she defeated Chiara Volenjnicek from Georgia State and clinched a spot in the B Singles bracket semifinals with a 6-2, 7-6 (5) win over Mercer's Katie Sidor.
"We hop to take this momentum into our regionals this week," said Longbotham Meisner.
In doubles, Turner and Griffin won the B Double's championship by defeating Tereza Melicharkova and Luisa Ferrauti of Troy, 6-2. They advanced to semifinals Saturday where they were victorious over Mercer's Christie Cesarini and Liza Klyachkin 6,0.
Auburn women's tennis will host the Women's USTA/ITA Regional Championships at the Yarbrough Tennis Center Oct. 15-19.
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