The University of Mississippi Athletics
Lady Rebel Netters Rally At Clay Courts
9/24/1999 | Women's Tennis
Sept. 24, 1999
BALTIMORE, Md. - Ivona Mihailova and Celeste Frey of the Ole Miss women's tennis team advanced to the singles semifinals at the T. Rowe Price National Clay Court Championships, Friday at the Suburban Country Club. Frey also teamed up with Mariana Eberle to reach the doubles semifinals.
Frey, seeded No. 4 in the tournament, rallied to beat Eline Chiew of BYU 4-6, 7-6(5), 6-2 in the round of 16 and then defeated Nebraska's Sandra Noetzel 6-2, 6-4 in the quarterfinals. In her match against Chiew, Frey was notched at 4-4 in the tiebreaker before winning the second set and then was down in the third set before reeling off four straight games to win the match.
Mihailova, seeded 5-8, defeated Susanne Bertel of Pacific 7-5, 6-3 in the second round and then dominated seventh-ranked Michelle Dasso of Notre Dame 6-1, 6-1 to reach the semifinals.
The semifinals will feature only two schools as Frey faces the No.1 ranked player and defending clay court Champion Zuzana Lesenarova of San Diego and Mihailova plays 25th-ranked Katarina Valkyova, also of San Diego. Mihailova defeated Valkyova 5-7, 6-3, 2-0 (default), in the Lady Rebels' dual match against San Diego last year.
It marks the first time in the history of the clay courts, that only two schools have been represented in the semifinals. In 1992, two players from the same team reached the finals.
In the doubles, Frey and Eberle downed Erica Biro and Megan Miller of Duke 6-3, 6-1 in the quarterfinals to advance to the semifinals for the second consecutive year. They will face Martina Ondrejkova and Iva Puflerova of South Alabama in the semifinals for the second year in a row. Eberle and Frey won that match in straight sets to advance to the finals before losing.
Competing in his first grand slam event, Rebel freshman Alexander Hartman lost to Mississippi State's No.1 player, Marco Baron 7-6(4), 6-1 in the round of 16. Hartman now stands at 7-1 after the tournament.
T. ROWE PRICE NATIONAL CLAY COURT CHAMPIONSHIPS
WOMEN'S SINGLES
SECOND ROUND - Celeste Frey (OM) def. Eline Chiew (BYU) 4-6, 7-6(5), 6-2, Ivona Mihailova (OM) def. Susanne Bertel (Pacific) 7-5, 6-3, Zuzana Lesenarova (USD) def. Mariana Eberle (OM) 6-4, 6-2
QUARTERFINALS - Frey (OM) def. Sandra Noetzel (NEB) 6-2, 6-4, Mihailova (OM) def. Michelle Dasso (ND) 6-1, 6-1.
WOMEN'S DOUBLES
QUARTERFINALS - Frey/Eberle (OM) def. Erica Biro/Megan Miller (DUKE) 6-3, 6-1.
MEN'S SINGLES
THIRD ROUND - Marco Baron (MSU) def. Alexander Hartman (OM) 7-6(4), 6-1