Hilton Head collegian helps Auburn rally for college club tennis title

Hilton Head Island’s Ashley Kitchen keyed a stirring overtime comeback that brought Auburn its first Tennis On Campus national club championship, emerging with a 23-22 triumph over North Carolina last week in Cary, N.C.

The Tigers trailed 18-15 when Kitchen and Mitchell Vegas took the court for the closing mixed doubles, eventually prevailing 6-4 over UNC’s Phil Mayre and Roxanne Henshall.

Under rules drawn from World Team Tennis, if the mixed doubles winners trail in the overall team score, the match is extended until it loses a game or ties the overall count. Kitchen and Vegas won the additional game, tying the match 22-22 and sending it to a super tiebreaker.

The tandems split the first 10 points before Auburn claimed the next two for a 7-5 triumph.

Kitchen, a Heritage Academy graduate, played two years of varsity tennis at Auburn before stepping back to the club level.

This story was originally published April 23, 2016 at 7:52 PM with the headline "Hilton Head collegian helps Auburn rally for college club tennis title."