No. 16 Auburn to host final regular season home matches over weekend – Auburn University Athletics

AUBURN, Ala. – No. 16 Women’s tennis will play its final two home matches of the season on Friday and Sunday at the Yarbrough Tennis Center. Auburn will play 24^th ranked Tennessee on Friday at 3pm CT and cap off the home schedule with Senior Day against No. 4 Georgia at noon CT on Sunday.
 
“There are no hiding spots in the SEC,” said Auburn interim head coach Lester Cook. “It’s great that we have both of these matches at home which will be a big advantage. The theme all year has been focusing on ourselves and controlling what we can control.”
 
The Tigers will enter the weekend with momentum after sweeping their Mississippi road trip, defeating both Ole Miss and Mississippi State. Graduate student Selin Ovunc earned SEC Player of the Week honors after winning two singles wins and two doubles wins, including the match clinching victory against the Bulldogs.
 
Sophomore DJ Bennett also had a perfect weekend with a pair of singles and doubles wins, and is riding a nine match singles winning streak. Bennett is 14-4 in dual singles matches this season. The two team victories helped boost Auburn two spots in the ITA rankings to 16^th and remain in a tie for third place in the SEC standings.
 
Tennessee will enter Friday’s match with an 11-6 overall record and a 3-4 record in conference matches. The Volunteers have dropped their last two matches to Texas A&M and Georgia at home.
 
Sofia Cabezas is the Volunteers’ only ranked singles player at 17^th in the nation. Cabezas has played every match at the top of the Tennessee singles lineup card and holds an 8-4 dual singles record including a straight set win over then-No. 8 Ayana Akli.
 
Cabezas also primarily plays at the No. 1 spot in the doubles lineup with Elza Tomase and the pair are ranked 21^st in the country.
 
“Senior day on Sunday is going to be emotional for four of our seniors,” continued Cook. “We’re going to keep it in perspective, stay focused, take care of business and then we can enjoy the festivities after the match.”
 
Auburn’s Senior Day opponent, Georgia, leads the SEC with a perfect 7-0 conference record and holds a 12-3 overall record. The Bulldogs’ only losses this season were to North Carolina, Texas and Ohio State.
 
In program history, Auburn has defeated Georgia nine times with the most recent win being in 2022 at the Yarbrough Tennis Center.
 
The Bulldogs have five representatives in the ITA singles rankings including No. 24 Dasha Vidmanova as well as two teams in the ITA doubles rankings.
 
Friday will be Greek Appreciation Day at the Yarbrough Tennis Center and fans in attendance will receive a free Auburn women’s tennis tumbler. Sunday will be the annual All-Auburn All-Orange match and fans in attendance will receive a free Auburn tennis t-shirt while supplies last. Auburn’s four seniors will be recognized on the courts following the match on Sunday.
 
Live video and live scoring of both matches will be available online at AuburnTigers.com and the Auburn Tigers app.