ATHENS, Ga. – No. 1 Auburn women’s tennis defeated No. 10 LSU 4-1 on Friday in the NCAA Championship quarterfinals at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex in Athens, Georgia. After winning the doubles point, Auburn dropped the opening set on five courts to begin singles but rallied to earn the win with singles victories from Ekaterina Khairutdinova, Angella Okutoyi and Eva Ionescu.

Auburn will face No. 4 Ohio State in the NCAA Championship semifinals on Saturday at 3 p.m. CT

“Winning the doubles point was huge for us,” Auburn head coach Jordan Szabo said. “We’ve only lost a couple all year, so winning that was very good for us, but we put ourselves in a big hole. We didn’t want to be there and didn’t think we were necessarily playing our best, but the fight and spirit were definitely on display, and I think our team got better and better.

“Not playing Merna (Refaat) was not easy, but we felt like this was the best thing for our team if we wanted to win it all. We have so much trust in Ava (Esposito), Eva (Ionescu) and all of our players that we put out there to get the job done. Very pleased with the girls. They’ve worked so hard all year, and they’re a great group.”

Déjà vu for Eva Ionescu 🏆#WarEagle pic.twitter.com/UjKhenxofX

— Auburn Women’s Tennis (@AuburnWTennis) May 15, 2026

Khairutdinova and Ashton Bowers continued their recent dominance at the No. 3 doubles position Friday to get the Tigers off to a quick start. The Auburn pair traded games early with LSU’s Carolina Kuhl and Addison Lanton before winning four consecutive games to close out a 6-3 victory for their 30th doubles win together this spring. LSU responded with a 6-4 win on the top doubles court, leaving the point to be decided on court two.

LSU’s Kenna Erickson and Ella McDonald took a 4-2 lead over Auburn’s Angella Okutoyi and Merna Refaat at the No. 2 position. Okutoyi and Refaat responded by winning four straight games, breaking serve twice to clinch the doubles point for Auburn.

Angie and Merna secure the doubles point 🔒

Auburn leads LSU 1️⃣-0️⃣#WarEagle pic.twitter.com/owxiv5QZej

— Auburn Women’s Tennis (@AuburnWTennis) May 15, 2026

The bottom of Auburn’s singles lineup saw a change from the most recent two rounds of the NCAA Championship, with Bowers and Esposito moving up to No. 4 and No. 5, respectively, and Ionescu entering the No. 6 position. LSU took the upper hand early in singles, winning the first set on five courts.

At the No. 2 singles position, LSU’s Kayla Cross traded breaks with Khairutdinova through the first four games of the opening set. With the set tied 5-5, both players held serve on deciding points to force a tiebreaker. Khairutdinova won three consecutive points late to secure a 7-4 tiebreak win and ignite the Auburn supporters in the crowd.

Cross jumped out to a 4-2 lead in the second set, but Khairutdinova responded with a hold to 15 and a break to love to even the set at 4-4. The Auburn senior then held serve before breaking to love again to close out the match and extend Auburn’s lead to 2-0.

KATYA TAKES IT IN STRAIGHT SETS 😤

Auburn now leads LSU 2️⃣-0️⃣ in Athens#WarEagle pic.twitter.com/KO0cGyY0XH

— Auburn Women’s Tennis (@AuburnWTennis) May 15, 2026

Momentum shifted after Khairutdinova’s win, as Okutoyi, Bowers, Ionescu and Esposito each forced a third set in their respective matches.

Okutoyi dropped her opening set to LSU’s Ella McDonald before battling back. With the second set tied 4-4, she secured a crucial break on a deciding point and held serve to force a third set. In the final set, McDonald led 3-1 before Okutoyi responded to tie the match at 3-3. She then broke to love before going on to complete a 1-6, 6-4, 6-4 victory. Okutoyi is now 21-2 this season and has won 14 consecutive singles matches that have reached completion.

Angella Okutoyi completes the comeback to win in three sets 💪

Auburn is one singles win away from victory, it’s 3-0#WarEagle pic.twitter.com/GQ6trVaJLu

— Auburn Women’s Tennis (@AuburnWTennis) May 15, 2026

At the No. 6 position, LSU’s Kinaa Graham claimed the first set 6-4. Ionescu quickly shifted momentum, delivering a 6-0 second set to force a third. The Auburn freshman extended her run to nine straight games since losing the opening set to build a 3-0 lead in the third before Graham rallied to tie the set at 4-4. Ionescu broke to love to take a 6-5 lead in the set and held serve to complete a 4-6, 6-0, 7-5 win and clinch the match for Auburn.

Ionescu has now clinched two wins over LSU this season, also securing the deciding point against Graham in the SEC Tournament final in Norman, Oklahoma.

With the win, Auburn improves to 36-3 overall and has won 10 straight matches. The Tigers have earned six victories over top-10 opponents this season.

Live streaming of Saturday’s semifinal will be available on ESPN+, with individual court feeds and live scoring available at GeorgiaDogs.com.

 

#1 Auburn 4, #10 LSU 1

Singles Results:

#9 Cadence Brace (LSU) def. #16 DJ Bennett (AUB) 6-3, 7-5
#31 E. Khairutdinova (AUB) def. #21 Kayla Cross (LSU) 7-6 (7-4), 6-4
#55 Angella Okutoyi (AUB) def. #77 Ella McDonald (LSU) 1-6, 6-4, 6-4
#58 Ashton Bowers (AUB) vs. #96 Addison Lanton (LSU) 3-6, 7-5, 1-4, unfinished
#68 Ava Esposito (AUB) vs. Carolina Kuhl (LSU) 5-7, 7-6 (7-3), 2-2, unfinished
Eva Ionescu (AUB) def. Kinaa Graham (LSU) 4-6, 6-0, 7-5

Doubles Results:

#40 Cadence Brace/Kayla Cross (LSU) def. #2 Ava Esposito/DJ Bennett (AUB) 6-4
#8 Angella Okutoyi/Merna Refaat (AUB) def. #17 Kenna Erickson/Ella McDonald (LSU) 6-4
E. Khairutdinova/Ashton Bowers (AUB) def. Carolina Kuhl/Addison Lanton (LSU) 6-3

 

Time of match: 3:06 Order of finish: Doubles: 3,1,2; Singles: 2,3,1,6