BATON ROUGE, La. – Auburn junior Ava Esposito earned a spot at the 2025-26 NCAA Singles Championship by qualifying for the singles semifinals at the ITA South Sectional Championships on Saturday at the LSU Tennis Complex in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Esposito won three matches in the 32-player draw to reach the round of four, where the event concluded.
“Congrats to Ava for making the NCAA Tournament,” Auburn head coach Jordan Szabo said. “She had three big wins against schools’ top players, found ways to win and played at a high level. I am proud of her growth. Overall, we left some matches on the board this week. We have a couple more weeks left in the fall to find ways to improve before the team season begins.”
Esposito’s run began with a comeback upset victory over No. 19 Catherine Aulia of Tennessee, 3-6, 7-5, 6-3, on Thursday. She then rallied again after dropping the first set Friday, defeating No. 54 Alejandra Cruz of Georgia Tech, 5-7, 6-3, 6-2. In Saturday’s quarterfinal, Esposito carried momentum from an opening-set tiebreak win to take the second set 6-0 over Florida State’s Eva Shaw, clinching her NCAA Singles Championship bid.
Alice Battesti also competed in the singles draw, defeating No. 57 Julia Zhu of Kentucky in three sets before falling in the round of 16. Esposito and DJ Bennett paired up in doubles and reached the second round after a 6-4, 6-2 win over Tennessee’s Vanesa Suarez and Saray Yli-Piipari.
Esposito and Ashton Bowers will represent the Tigers in the 2025-26 NCAA Singles Championship, set for Nov. 18-23 at the USTA National Campus in Orlando, Florida.
Thursday Results:
Alice Battesti (AUB) def. #57 Julia Zhu (UK) 4-6, 6-2, 6-1
Ava Esposito (AUB) def. #19 Catherine Aulia (TENN) 3-6, 7-5, 6-3
Lucie Pawlak (FLA) def. #1 DJ Bennett (AUB) 7-5, 3-6, 7-6 (3)
Ava Esposito/DJ Bennett (AUB) def. Vanesa Suarez/Saray Yli-Piipari (TENN) 6-4, 6-2
Friday Results:
#34 Leyla Britez Risso (TENN) def. Alice Battesti (AUB) 6-3, 5-7, 6-3
Ava Esposito (AUB) def. #54 Alejandra Cruz (GT) 5-7, 6-3, 6-2
Kenna Erickson (LSU) def. #1 DJ Bennett 6-7 (5), 6-2, 6-2
#45 Xinyi Nong/Nikola Daubnerova (FSU) def. Ava Esposito/DJ Bennett (AUB) 3-6, 7-6 (1), [13-11]
Saturday Results:
Ava Esposito (AUB) def. Eva Shaw (FSU) 7-6 (5), 6-0
