DURHAM, North Carolina – The University of Denver women's tennis team fell to No. 14-ranked Auburn in its first match at the 2024 ITA Kickoff Weekend on Friday.
DU showed fight in both doubles and singles but ultimately fell 4-0 to the Tigers. The region's No. 3 seed Denver will now face No 4-seeded Princeton in the consolation match on Saturday.
Doubles:
All three of DU's doubles teams faced break deficits early in their matches before working back to even terms or to push Auburn late in the set. Courts 1 and 3 were the first two to wrap up with matching scores of 6-4 in favor of the Tigers, though DU's No. 2 team of sophomores
Caroline Driscoll and
Louise Wikander finished at 5-all after fighting back for breaks down.
Singles:
In four of the six singles matches, Denver kept things close, beginning with junior
Andrea Burguete Beltran in the No. 1 slot against the No. 8-ranked player in the country. After dropping the first set, she kept the second set close before giving up a late break for a 7-5 finish.
Both Wikander and fellow sophomore
Alice Otis also narrowly dropped their opening sets by scores of 7-5. Neither match finished before Auburn had clinched the win.
In No. 6 singles, sophomore
Claudia Martinez de Velasco rebounded from a 6-1 loss in the first set to take the second set, 6-3, and forced a decisive frame. Like Wikander and Otis, her match did not finish.
Driscoll faced an uphill battle in No. 4 singles, coming up short against the nation's No. 34-ranked singles player. Graduate student
Britt Pursell filled DU's singles slate, dropping her match on Court 2.
Up Next:
The University of Denver women's tennis team wraps up play at the 2024 ITA Kickoff Weekend when it faces off against Princeton on Saturday, January 27, at 7 p.m. ET/5 p.m. MT.
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