No. 8 Auburn Tennis Sweeps Weekend; No. 15 Vanderbilt Splits SEC Road Matches

Auburn's Home Stand Success

Returning home after a successful road trip, No. 8 Auburn continued its winning ways. Against No. 15 Vanderbilt, Auburn overcame losing the doubles point to dominate singles play, winning all six matches for a decisive 6-1 victory. Key wins included No. 62 Angella Okutoyi snapping Vanderbilt standout Valeria Ray's 17-match win streak (6-3, 6-3) and No. 4 DJ Bennett outlasting No. 11 Celia-Belle Mohr in a third-set tiebreaker (2-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7-5)).

Two days later, Auburn dispatched Missouri with a clean 4-0 sweep. They secured the doubles point quickly and followed up with straight-set wins from No. 4 DJ Bennett, Maria Garcia, and Alice Battesti at No. 1, No. 5, and No. 6 singles, respectively. This performance reinforced Auburn's position as a top-10 team nationally.

Vanderbilt Navigates Tough Road Trip

No. 15 Vanderbilt faced a challenging weekend in Alabama. Despite capturing the doubles point against Auburn thanks to a tiebreak win from the No. 14 pair Celia-Belle Mohr and Sophia Webster, the Commodores couldn't maintain momentum in singles, falling 6-1.

However, Vanderbilt bounced back effectively against No. 22 Florida. They secured the doubles point again and clinched the team victory early with singles wins from Bridget Stammel (opponent retired), Amy Stevens, Sophia Webster, and Trinetra Vijayakumar. Despite the 5-2 team win, Vanderbilt saw upset losses at the top two singles spots, with No. 39 Rachel Gailis defeating No. 11 Mohr and No. 91 Alicia Dudeney edging No. 56 Ray in a super tiebreaker.

Missouri Faces Top Competition

Missouri faced a tough test against the red-hot Auburn Tigers, falling 4-0. While the scoreline was decisive, Mizzou showed fight in unfinished matches. Lailaa Bashir was leading No. 62 Angella Okutoyi (6-3, 1-1), and Korina Roso had taken the first set against No. 36 Merna Refaat (3-6, 4-1) before Auburn clinched the overall match.

No. 8 Auburn defeated No. 15 Vanderbilt 6-1. No. 8 Auburn defeated Missouri 4-0. No. 15 Vanderbilt defeated No. 22 Florida 5-2.

Both Auburn and Vanderbilt moved to 6-3 in SEC play, while Missouri fell to 2-7.

Auburn's Angella Okutoyi snapped Vanderbilt's Valeria Ray's 17-match singles win streak. Vanderbilt's top players, No. 11 Mohr and No. 56 Ray, suffered upset losses against Florida despite the team win. Auburn's No. 4 DJ Bennett secured wins in both matches.

How do you see the SEC women's tennis race shaping up? Let us know in the comments!

Share this article with others who follow college tennis!