After Auburn won a pair of 6-4 matches at Nos. 3 and 2 to take the doubles point, the Tigers secured singles wins Nos. 1, 5 and 6 to clinch. However, the match at No. 6 was decided by a break late in the third set, and the Longhorns followed with singles victories by freshmen No. 70 Ashton Bowers at No. 2, No. 30 Carmen Herea at No. 4, and No. 69 Eszter Meri at No. 3.
In Bowers’ match, she defeated No. 99 Ava Hrastar, 7-5, 3-6, 6-1. The first three games were all breaks until Hrastar held for a 3-1 lead. The set was on serve from there up to a 5-3 lead for Hrastar when Bowers went on a 4-0 run for the win. Hrastar broke first in the second set for a 3-2 lead that she consolidated for 4-2. Two games later, Bowers had a break point opportunity at deuce, but Hrastar managed to hold and then broke again to win the set, 6-3. In the third, both players held starting with Bowers, but she took control from there with a 5-0 run to the win.
The next two wins came seconds apart and both in third-set tiebreakers. The first of those was Herea’s 6-4, 2-6, 7-6 (4) top-30 win over No. 28 Merna Refaat. Both players broke to begin the match, starting with Refaat, who broke again for a 3-2 lead that she consolidated for 4-2. However, Herea ran the table from there with a 4-0 run to the win. In the second set, the first three games were breaks until Refaat held on a deuce point and broke again for a 4-1 lead. The next two games were also breaks until Refaat held for the 6-2 win. For the third-consecutive set, both players broke the other’s opening serve.
Herea then held broke on a deuce point to start a string of four-straight deuce points. The first three were breaks until Herea held on the last one for a 5-2 lead. Refaat then went on a 3-0 run with a deuce-point break in the second of those to even it, and the players held the last two games to go to a tiebreaker. There, it alternated between one-point leads for Rafaat and ties, until Herea used a 3-0 run to take a 5-3 lead. Refaat won the next point for 5-4, but Herea won the last two for the win.
