BATON ROUGE, La. — Auburn women’s tennis was back in action for the ITA Southern Regional Championships in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Ashton Bowers finished the week by winning her second straight ITA Southern Regional title in singles on Monday.
The Tigers had four total in action, with all finding their way into the main draw without qualifying rounds. Bowers was the only Auburn player to reach the Monday finals, winning all but one set in the tournament.
Bowers started her weekend with two wins over Lauren Seye of Mississippi State and Klara Kajabova of Alabama. She lost the first set to Kajabova, 4-6, but fired back with 7-5 and 6-2 to take the match.
On Saturday, Bowers beat Nada Fouad of LSU, 7-5, 6-3, then Andrea Nova of Ole Miss 6-4, 6-2 on Sunday, to reach the finals. She closed out the weekend with a 7-5, 6-4 win over Addison Lanton of LSU to defend the singles title.
Apart from Bowers, Kaya Moe fought through two three-set matches on Friday night to move on. Her opening match was a thriller against Mississippi State’s Mia Robinson, losing on a tiebreak in set one, 6-7. She didn’t back down, winning set two on another tiebreak, 7-6, and set three, 7-5.
Moe’s run ended Saturday when she lost to LSU’s Tegan Bush in straight sets 6-4, 7-6.
Natalie Outcalt and Ava Esposito each opened the singles main draw with a win Friday before falling in their second matches. Outcalt defeated Alabama’s Kristyna Damaskova 6-2, 7-6, before losing to Mississippi State’s Gianna Oboniye 6-3, 6-3. Esposito beat LA Tech’s Alexandra Patton 6-2, 6-1, before LSU’s Kinaa Graham rallied to win 6-1, 0-6, 6-4.
All four Auburn women contributed to the doubles main draw. The Outcalt and Moe duo lost 8-7 in their first match, but Esposito and Bowers, took care of business, moving on 8-4.
On Sunday, Bowers and Esposito fell to LSU’s El Aouni and Fouad 8-4, ending their run in the doubles draw.
Auburn coach Jordan Szabo praised Bowers for holding her ground as a top seed and moving on to the NCAA Championships in Athens, Georgia.
“In the big moments, she was poised and found a way to play better tennis than her opponents. Excited to see her play in Athens later this fall,” Szabo said.
Auburn’s season continues at the ITF W50 Austin, which takes place at the Courtyard Racquet Club in Austin, Texas, beginning on Oct. 19.
