Auburn women’s tennis advances to NCAA’s 2nd round
AUBURN, Ala. (auburntigers.com) – No. 11 Auburn women’s tennis defeated Alcorn State 4-0 to advance to the second round of the NCAA Tournament for the third year under head coach Lauren Spencer.
“We knew there was going to be a few kinks to get out because we haven’t played a match in three weeks,” said Auburn head coach Lauren Spencer. “I think we started really well in doubles. We had good energy and we did what we needed to do to get the doubles point. We came out a little slow on a couple of singles matches, but once we got settled in we took care of business. We have to play better tennis tomorrow. Arizona State is a very good team and we are looking forward to bring it tomorrow.”
Auburn’s continued it’s dominance in doubles, clinching the doubles point for the 21st time this season. No. 8 Pleun Burgmans and Alizee Michaud improved to 13-4 (9-4 SEC), defeating Ekaterina Potapova and Sibohan Ryan-Bovey of Alcorn State, 6-0.
Freshman Alannah Griffin improved to 27-12 (8-2 SEC) on the season, defeating Ekaterina Potapova 6-1, 6-2 to give Auburn a 2-0 lead. She was followed by fellow freshman Caroline Turner, who won 6-0, 6-0 on court six.
No. 70 Burgmans clinched the match for Auburn and improved to 28-7 (7-4 SEC) on the year, defeating Sibohan Ryan-Bovey, 6-3, 6-0. She now has 194 combined victories for her career.
“Pleun Burgmans did a great job once she settled in,” said Spencer. “I was very proud of her leadership out there today.”
No. 11 Auburn will face off against No. 22 Arizona State tomorrow for a chance to advance to the round of 16 in Tulsa, Okla. The match will begin at 1 p.m. at Yarbrough Tennis Center.
