National runner-up: No. 1 Auburn falls 4-1 to No. 3 Texas A&M in NCAA Championship final

ATHENS, Ga. – No. 1 Auburn women’s tennis concluded a historic season, falling to No. 3 Texas A&M 4-1 in the NCAA Championship final Sunday at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex, ending the best season in program history.

Auburn dropped the doubles point for only the third time in 41 matches this season, winning 6-1 on court 2 behind Angella Okutoyi and Merna Refaat but falling 6-1 on court 3.

On the deciding court 1, DJ Bennett and Ava Esposito played a hotly contested 70-minute set, matching their opponents game for game before the Aggies’ duo of Lucciana Perez and Mia Kupres controlled the tiebreaker 7-3 to win 7-6, clinching the doubles point for Texas A&M.

In singles play, Auburn grabbed early leads on three courts and three others were tied after only two games when lightning delayed the match for 60 minutes.

When play resumed, the teams split the first sets, with Bennett, Okutoyi and Esposito winning for Auburn at Nos. 1, 3 and 6, respectively.

Texas A&M took a 2-0 lead when Violeta Martinez defeated Ashton Bowers 7-5, 6-1 at No. 5.

Okutoyi secured Auburn’s point, winning 6-2, 6-2, giving the senior from Nairobi, Kenya, a 23-2 record in dual matches in her stellar senior season, including 16 consecutive victories to conclude her career.

The Aggies regained momentum soon after with Lexington Reed’s 7-6, 6-3 victory over Merna Refaat at No. 4 to lead 3-1, making all three remaining matches must-wins for the Tigers.

Auburn did not go quietly, with Bennett threatening to hand the undefeated Perez her first loss at No. 1, taking the NCAA’s top-ranked player to a hard-fought third set when the match ended.

At No. 2, Ekaterina Khairutdinova forced a third set after dropping the first set 7-6 and winning the second 6-3.

Texas A&M clinched the match and its second national championship in three years when Daria Smetannikov defeated Esposito 4-6, 6-2, 6-4 at No. 6.

In its first NCAA championship appearance, Auburn (37-4) advanced to the final by defeating No. 10 LSU in the quarterfinals and No. 4 Ohio State in the semifinals to extend its winning streak to 11 matches.

In head coach Jordan Szabo’s second season, Auburn won the program’s first SEC regular-season championship and first conference tournament title, earning No. 1 rankings in both the ITA and UTR polls.

The story will be updated.

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