Blue Devils Conclude Season in NCAA Super Regionals with 4-2 Loss at No. 1 Auburn

Friday, May 8

Auburn, AL

6 p.m.

Duke University

Auburn

Photo by: Duke Athletics

Blue Devils Conclude Season in NCAA Super Regionals with 4-2 Loss at No. 1 Auburn

5/8/2026 11:39:00 PM | Women's Tennis

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

AUBURN, Ala. — The 15th-ranked Duke women's tennis team saw its season come to a close Friday evening inside the Yarbrough Tennis Center in Auburn as the 15th-seeded Blue Devils dropped a 4-2 decision to No. 1 ranked and second-seeded Auburn in the NCAA Super Regionals.

The match was delayed and moved inside due to inclement weather in the area. Duke concluded its season with a 20-8 overall record, while Auburn improved to 35-3.

In the match, Duke's 13th-ranked Irina Balus collected another ranked win as she defeated 16th-ranked DJ Bennett at the No. 1 slot, while freshman Claire An closed her impressive season with a victory on court four.

How It Happened

Auburn came out with an impressive start on courts two and three as the Tigers won both matches and clinched the doubles point to take a 1-0 lead.
On court three, Duke's Liv Hovde and Aspen Schuman dropped only their second match of the season with a 6-1 loss to Ashton Bowers and Ekaterina Khayrutdinova.
The Blue Devil tandem of Claire An and Eleana Yu fell, 6-1, to the eighth-ranked tandem of Angella Okutoyi and Merna Refaat on court two to clinch the point.
On court one, Duke's 50th-ranked duo of Irina Balus and Shavit Kimchi were leading the second-ranked tandem of DJ Bennett and Ava Esposito, 5-3, when the doubles point was clinched.
Coming off an injury in the NCAA Tournament first round, Duke's 52nd-ranked Schuman tried to give it a go in the round of 16 but dropped a 6-2, 6-1 decision to 31st-ranked Khayrutdinova on court two.
With Auburn leading 2-0, Duke started to make a comeback.
On court one, 13th-ranked Balus faced 16th-ranked Bennett. With the match even, 1-1, in the first set, Balus won three games in a row to go ahead, 4-1. Bennett responded by winning three consecutive games herself to even the score, 4-4. Both players held serve over the next two games and then Balus won back-to-back games to win the first set, 7-5. Bennett opened the second set with a 2-0 lead and led 3-1, but Balus came back to win the next five games to win the match, 6-3, and put Duke on the board.
Duke's An never trailed in the first set against Refaat on court four, totaling a 6-2 victory. In the second, Refaat jumped out to a 2-0 lead and led 4-1, but An came back to take the match, 6-4, and even the team score, 2-2.
Auburn reclaimed the lead, 3-2, as 68th-ranked Esposito totaled a 6-2, 7-6 (7-3) win on court six against Duke's Yu. In the first set, Yu led 2-1 before dropping the set, 6-2. Yu led 4-2 in the second set but eventually dropped it in a 7-3 tiebreaker.
The Tigers were able to clinch the win on court three as 55th-ranked Okutoyi totaled a three-set victory over Duke's 124th-ranked Hovde, 5-7, 7-5, 6-0. Okutoyi opened the first set with a 4-3 lead, but Hovde battled back to go ahead, 5-4, but Okutoyi evened the score, 5-5. Hovde closed strong holding serve and breaking Okutoyi to win the first set, 7-5. In the second set, Hovde jumped out to a 4-1 lead and led 5-4, but Okutoyi came back to win the set, 7-5, and force a deciding third set. Auburn cruised in the third set winning, 6-0, to clinch the match, 4-2.
When the match was clinched, Duke's Kimchi was leading 58th-ranked Bowers, 5-7, 7-6 (7-3), 1-0, on court five.

Notes

Irina Balus concluded her season with a 22-9 singles record and a 17-4 dual match ledger. She totaled her sixth top-50 ranked win of the season and had 13 ranked wins on the year.
Claire An moved to 15-8 on the year and 2-0 in her career in the NCAA Tournament.
Duke fell to 4-14 all-time against No. 1 ranked teams.
The Blue Devils move to 86-36 all-time in the 36 NCAA appearances.
Duke dropped to 23-8 all-time in NCAA Round of 16 matches.

Quotes

"Yeah, it was a tough match. Against a team like that, we can't come out that slow and give them any kind of confidence. They're too good of a team. They've shown that all year. I was hoping we had a little bit more fight in doubles. In one doubles, we were up — two and three struggled a little bit. Then I thought we did a good job, honestly, of letting it go and playing quality singles. The biggest thing we were looking for was an opportunity, and we gave ourselves an opportunity." -- Duke head coach Jamie Ashworth
"I think she [Irina Balus] grew a lot this year, self-confidence-wise, and belief in herself. I just told the team we beat Auburn in the same round last year, and it motivated them and pushed them to become the best team in the country this year. We have to do the same. Whether it's Irina — whoever it is — we have to use this to push us and become better. I think that we're capable of that. But it starts with the top. It starts with Irina and our returning players and kind of goes from there." -- Duke head coach Jamie Ashworth on the graduation of Katie Codd
"Obviously we lose Katie [Codd] to graduation. Katie has been an unbelievable addition to our team. One of the hardest-working practice players we've had and she was a great fit for our program. So, it's going to be tough to lose that. What she brings to our courts, day in and day out, is amazing. Hopefully someone can pick that up along the way." -- Duke head coach Jamie Ashworth on the graduation of Katie Codd

#1 Auburn 4, Duke 2
May 8, 2026
Yarbrough Tennis Center * Auburn, Ala.

Doubles

#50 Irina Balus/Shavit Kimchi (DU) vs. #2 DJ Bennett/Ava Esposito (AUB) 5-3, unfinished
#8 Angella Okutoyi/Merna Refaat (AUB) def. Claire An/Eleana Yu (DU) 6-1
Ashton Bowers/Ekaterina Khayrutdinova (AUB) def. Liv Hovde/Aspen Schuman (DU) 6-1