Just a day after taking down Georgia Tech 5-2, head coach Caroline Lilley's squad faced a double-header at the Yarbrough Tennis Center, beating both Clemson and Alabama A&M 7-0. They are now 7-0 on the season.
Clemson
With ranked duos on both sides, the doubles point was closely contested. Auburn stacked its top doubles squad with Selin Ovunc and Ariana Arsenault to take home the first match, but the No. 3 squad of Madeline Meredith and Carolyn Ansari failed to replicate the success, falling 6-4. The opening point came down to court two, as both teams gathered around to watch the final few games play out. Auburn's Georgie Axon and Adeline Flach were able to survive, 7-5, to secure the opening point.
Auburn's singles lineup was headlined by No. 79-ranked Selin Ovunc, who took on No. 70 Cristina Mayorova on the feature court. While the cross-continental matchup started close, Ovunc was able to pull away in the first set and dominate the second, winning 6-3, 6-0.
The second court featured a loud battle, with Ariana Arsenault and Clemson's Eleni Louka trying to overpower each other. Much like Ovunc's match, while the first set was contested to the end, Arsenault was able to easily dispatch Louka in the second, winning 7-5, 6-2.
Senior Yu Chen and grad student Georgie Axon rounded out the 5th and 6th matches. Both of them made quick work of their opponents in both sets. Axon finished 6-1, 6-2, against her No. 84 ranked adversary, and Chen finished 6-1, 6-4.
Alabama A&M
Despite having played a match earlier in the day, the Tigers didn't miss a step in their encore performance Sunday. They took down the Bulldogs 7-0, only dropping one doubles game to grab the opening point.
The Birmingham native Meredith picked up her first win of the spring, downing her opponent 6-1, 6-1. She was the first to finish in the afternoon match.
Anastasia Astakhova picked up her first win of the day as well, quickly dispatching A&M's Kennedy Ward 6-0, 6-0 on the No. 6 court.
February 6, 2022; Auburn, Alabama; Ariana Arseneault serves a ball in a match between Auburn and Clemson at the Yarbrough Tennis Center.
Arsenault grabbed her second win of the day, this time on the top court, making quick work of the Bulldog's Jasmine Boyd, 6-1, 6-2. The Canadian-born sophomore is now 5-0 in the spring.
The Tigers, who are now ranked No. 14, dropped just two sets in both matchups. They are now 7-0 on the season, matching 2018 as their best start in school history.
"The girls have earned some much-needed rest after this weekend," Lilley said. "A complete effort from start to finish by all eight of them. We are always looking for ways to improve as we continue developing and maturing. With a short week of practice, we will make recovering a priority as we prepare to travel next weekend."
The Tigers will head to ITA Nationals next weekend in Wisconsin. That tournament will start on Friday on the UW-Madison campus, with match times still to be announced.
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Dylan Fox, Junior in Civil Site Design Engineering, joined The Plainsman as a sports writer in Spring 2020. From Geneva, IL.
