The University of Mississippi Athletics
Lady Netters Fall to Florida, 8-1
6/21/1999 | Women's Tennis
April 1, 1999
OXFORD, Miss. - The 14th-ranked Ole Miss women's tennis team came into Thursday's match against top-ranked Florida having won five in a row and seven of their last eight, but the Gators proved too much, downing the Lady Rebels 8-1 at the Palmer/Salloum Tennis Center. The Lady Rebels drop to 13-4 overall, 5-2 in the SEC, while Florida goes to 19-0 and 6-0 in conference.
Florida won four of the five singles matches in straight sets to capture their 46th consecutive victory. Stephanie Nickitas, ranked 25th in the nation, downed 20th-ranked Ivona Mihailova 6-2, 6-3 at No. 2 singles. Stephanie Hazlett cruised to a 6-2, 6-2 win over Lady Rebel Celeste Frey at No. 3 singles and Florida's M.C. White defeated Courtenay Chapman 6-4, 6-0 at No. 4 singles.
With Agnes Muzamel still playing at No. 1 singles, junior Mariana Eberle was trying to split sets with the Gators' Traci Green, but she could not hold on, losing 6-3, 7-5 at the fifth spot. Eberle had won five in a row coming into the Florida match. She is 13-3 at No. 5 singles.
Muzamel won the first set tiebreaker 7-6(2), but lost the second set 6-3 to Florida's Whitney Laiho, ranked 12th in the country. The fifth-ranked senior from Budapest, Hungary, was down a break but managed to break back to 4-4 before losing her serve again. Laiho held serve to win 6-4 in the third and clinch the win.
Florida won all three doubles positions for the final 8-1 score.
The Lady Rebels travel to Knoxville, Tenn., Saturday for a noon matchup with the 12th-ranked Tennessee Lady Vols. Tennessee is 14-3 overall, 5-3 in the SEC. The Lady Vols are coming off a 5-4 win over South Carolina last Sunday.
#1 Florida 8, #14 OLE MISS 1
SINGLES
#1 Whitney Laiho (UF) def. Agnes Muzamel (OM) 6-7(2), 6-3, 6-4#2 Stephanie Nickitas (UF) def. Ivona Mihailova (OM) 6-2, 6-3#3 Stephanie Hazlett (UF) def. Celeste Frey (OM) 6-2, 6-2#4 M.C. White (UF) def. Courtenay Chapman (OM) 6-4, 6-0#5 Mariana Eberle (OM) def. Traci Green (UF) 6-2, 7-5#6 Alesya Ignatieva (OM) def. Baili Camino (UF) 6-3, 6-3DOUBLES
#1 Nickitas-Lehnhoff (UF) def. Frey-Eberle (OM) 8-0#2 Green-White (UF) def. Mihailova-Mihailova (OM) 8-6#3 Camilla Gould-Julie Charvat (OM) def. Laiho-Hazlett (UF) 8-0
