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Auburn
No. 6 Women’s Tennis falls to No. 4 Auburn, 4-0
04.04.2026 | Women's Tennis
The Longhorns had opportunities on the remaining three courts, including a match point at No. 1, when play stopped.
Austin – No. 6 Texas Women's Tennis fell to No. 4 Auburn, 4-0, on Saturday at the Weller Indoor Tennis Center.
Auburn claimed the doubles point with a pair of 6-2 wins at Nos. 3 and 1 and the followed with singles wins at Nos. 6, 5, and 2. When play stopped, sophomore No. 3 Carmen Herea was on a match point for a potential win at No. 1, sophomore No. 49 Eszter Meri had a set lead at No. 3, and freshman Christasha McNeil was in a third set trailing by one game.
During doubles, No. 3 was first to finish as Herea and freshman Mathilde Ngijol-Carré fell to Ekaterina Khairutdinova and Ashton Bowers, 6-2. Auburn then clinched the point at No. 1 by the same score as the No. 31 pair of freshman Anastasia Abbagnato and sophomore Salma Drugdova were downed by No. 10 DJ Bennett and Ava Esposito. The Longhorns held a 4-3 lead in the remaining match at No. 2 with the No. 88 duo of McNeil and freshman Elizabeth Ionescu ahead of No. 21 Angella Okutoyi and Merna Refaat when play stopped.
In singles, freshman Kate Mansfield played in her second match after returning from injury, but fell to No. 55 Esposito, 6-0, 6-2, at No. 6. Ionescu was then downed by No. 44 Bowers, 6-3, 6-2, at No. 5, and No. 12 Abbagnato came up just short in both sets against No. 80 Khairutdinova, 7-5, 7-5.
With play halted, Herea was sitting on a match point in her second-set tiebreaker against No. 38 Bennett at No. 1, leading 6-3, 6-6 (7-6). Meri up a set on No. 69 Okutoyi, 7-5, 4-5, at No. 3, and McNeil was trailing by a slight margin in a third set versus Refaat, 6-4, 4-6, 1-2.
The Longhorns (15-5, 10-3 SEC) will next head on the road for their final two regular season matches, starting with Arkansas on Thursday, April 9, at 5 p.m. CT, and followed by Oklahoma on Saturday, April 11, at 12 p.m. CT.
#4 Auburn 4, #6 Texas 0
Singles – Order of Finish (6,5,2)
1. #3 Carmen Herea (TEX) vs. #38 DJ Bennett (AUB) 6-3, 6-6 (7-6), unf.
2. #80 Ekaterina Khairutdinova (AUB) def. #12 Anastasia Abbagnato (TEX) 7-5, 7-5
3. #49 Eszter Meri (TEX) vs. #69 Angella Okutoyi (AUB) 7-5, 4-5, unf.
4. Christasha McNeil (TEX) vs. Merna Refaat (AUB) 6-4, 4-6, 1-2, unf.
5. #44 Ashton Bowers (AUB) def. Elizabeth Ionescu (TEX) 6-3, 6-2
6. #55 Ava Esposito (AUB) def. Kate Mansfield (TEX) 6-0, 6-2
Doubles – Order of Finish (3,1)
1. #10 DJ Bennett/Ava Esposito (AUB) def. #31 Anastasia Abbagnato/Salma Drugdova (TEX) 6-2
2. #88 Elizabeth Ionescu/Christasha McNeil (TEX) vs. #21 Angella Okutoyi/Merna Refaat (AUB) 4-3, unf.
3. Ekaterina Khairutdinova/Ashton Bowers (AUB) def. Carmen Herea/Mathilde Ngijol-Carré (TEX) 6-2
Individual Match Key Moments
(by order of finish)
Doubles No. 3: Khairutdinova/Bowers (AUB) def. Herea/Ngijol-Carre (TEX) 6-2
Match: Auburn began on a 4-0 run and the last four games were held, capped by a deuce point for the Tigers for the match.
Doubles No. 1: Bennett/Esposito (AUB) def. Abbagnato/Drugdova (TEX) 6-2
Match: Both teams broke starting with Auburn, and after Texas held for a 2-1 lead, the Tigers finished with a 5-0 run capped by consecutive deuce points.
Doubles No. 2: Ionescu/McNeil (TEX) vs. Okutoyi/Refaat (AUB) 4-3, unf.
Match: Texas held and broke for 2-0, which was the first of six-straight breaks with Auburn doing so at deuce to trail 1-2 and 3-4.
Singles No. 6: Esposito (AUB) def. Mansfield (TEX) 6-0, 6-2
Set One: Esposito swept the first set, including a deuce-point break for 2-0.
Set Two: Esposito won the first three games to complete a 9-0 overall run. She broke again at deuce for 6-2 and the match.
Singles No. 5: Bowers (AUB) def. Ionescu (TEX) 6-3, 6-2
Set One: Ionescu broke and held for 2-0, and had a break chance at deuce for 3-0, but Bowers held for 2-1. Ionescu held for 3-1, but Bowers closed on a 5-0 run with a deuce-point break for 5-3.
Set Two: Bowers won the first four games, including a deuce-point break for 3-0. The last four games were held, including at deuce for each player for 5-1 and 5-2.
Singles No. 2: Khairutdinova (AUB) def. Abbagnato (TEX) 7-5, 7-5
Set One: Khairutdinova broke twice at deuce to start 4-0. After Abbagnato held at deuce and Khairutdinova also held for 5-1, Abbagnato set out on a 4-0 run with two deuce-point breaks. Khairutdinova then broke again for 6-5 and served out the set.
Set Two: Despite five deuce points, the set was on serve until Khairutdinova broke for a 6-5 lead and served out the set.
Singles No. 1: Herea (TEX) vs. Bennett (AUB) 6-3, 6-6 (7-6), unf.
Set One: Bennett broke at deuce to start, but Herea went on a 4-0 run. The last four games were held with the final two at deuce.
Set Two: Herea broke for 2-1, but Bennett got the break back for 5-5 and held at deuce for a 6-5 lead before Herea held for the tiebreaker.
Set Two Tiebreaker: Herea used a 3-0 run for a 3-1 lead, but Bennett evened it, 3-3. Herea won the next two points, but Bennett squared it again, 5-5. Herea won the next point for a match point, but Bennett held for 6-6. Herea won the final point before play stopped.
Singles No. 3: Meri (TEX) vs. Okutoyi (AUB) 7-5, 4-5, unf.
Set One: The first three games were breaks until Okutoyi held for 3-1. Herea got the break back for 4-4 and later broke at deuce for the 7-5 and the set.
Set Two: The first five games went to deuce with Meri winning the first two and Okutoyi the next three. The next two games were breaks and the last two were held.
Singles No. 4: McNeil (TEX) vs. Refaat (AUB) 6-4, 4-6, 1-2, unf.
Set One: Refaat won consecutive deuce points to break and hold, but McNeil got the break back at deuce for 3-3. The next two games were breaks until McNeil held for a 5-4 lead and broke at deuce for the set.
Set Two: Refaat collected the only break for a 3-2 lead.
Set Three: All three games were breaks starting with Refaat.
