Okutoyi on the losing side for Auburn in SEC Tournament second round

Kenyan tennis star Angella Okutoyi was on the losing Thursday for Auburn University as the team’s journey in the second round of the SEC Women's Tennis Championship came to an end in the 4-3 aggregate loss to Ole Miss in Fayetteville, Arkansas.

It was a tough outing for the 19-year-old as she fell in both her singles and doubles matches, losing to Emma Kette in a three-set thriller in the fourth match of the day before crashing with her partner Adeline Flach in the doubles match-up.

The defeat- her tenth loss this season- followed her loss 2-6, 6-7 (5-7) to Emily de Oliveira of Florida as 13th-ranked Auburn fell to the Gators in the final day of the regular season.

Okutoyi broke out to a 6-2 advantage in the opening set before being forced to a final set decider after being held down 7-5 in the second.

The third set was a thriller as trailing 5-2 in the final set, Okutoyi won three straight games to pull back even at 5-5. But after her opponent held to make it 6-5, Okutoyi was unable to hold and force a tiebreaker, falling 2-6, 7-5, 7-5 to Emma Kette.

The doubles match-up wasn't any different for the Kenyan however as she and Flach went down 6-3 to the Ole Miss pair of Rachel Krzyzak and Annaelle Leclercq.

The only winners for The Tigers in the singles were Ariana Arseneault, DJ Bennett and Carolyn Ansari who had given Auburn a commanding 2-0 lead.

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With the result, Ole Miss will now proceed to Friday night’s quarterfinals while Auburn (18-8) will await their postseason destination and opponent as the NCAA Tennis Championships selection announcement is set for May 1.

The tournament begins at campus sites the weekend of May 5-7.