The University of Mississippi Athletics
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Georgia
Georgia Defeats Ole Miss In Women's Tennis Action
4/2/2000 | Women's Tennis
April 2, 2000
OXFORD, Miss. - The 17th-ranked Ole Miss women's tennis team could not overcome Georgia's strong singles lineup dropping a 6-3 decision to the No. 3 ranked Lady Bulldogs Sunday afternoon at the Women's Sports Complex. Rain forced the match to be played indoors.
"We played an excellent match today," head coach Jerry Montgomery said. "Georgia is definitely the best team we have faced all year. We battled them hard and came through at several positions. Mariana Eberle had the best singles win of her career and Mira Radu defeated a very experienced player. Ivona and Irena beat a very tough doubles team."
Georgia jumped on Ole Miss early taking a 1-0 lead with Marissa Catlin's 6-3, 6-0 win over Lady Rebel freshman Julie DeRoo at No. 3 singles. They made it 2-0 when Aarthi Venkatesan held off Ivona Mihailova in the second set for a 6-1, 6-4 victory at No. 1 singles. Neither player could hold their serve in the second set, but after breaking at 4-4, Venkatesan served out for the win.
On court two, Celeste Frey battled 10th-ranked Esther Knox to three sets but Georgia prevailed 6- 3, 1-6, 6-3 and the Lady Bulldogs would go ahead 3-0. Georgia's Anne Nguyen downed Lady Rebel Alesya Ignatieva 6-2, 6-3 at No. 6 singles to give the Lady Bulldogs what seemed like a commanding 4-0 lead.
But the Lady Rebels were not done just yet. Freshman Mira Radu defeated Kelly Baskin 6-4, 6-3 at No. 5 singles to give Ole Miss their first point of the day and an important one in keeping the Lady Rebels' chances alive.
Senior Mariana Eberle rallied for the biggest win of her four-year career, knocking off 17th-ranked Lori Grey 3-6, 7-5, 6-4 to force doubles play.
Georgia has two doubles' teams ranked in the top 15 and the 14th-ranked team of Venkatesan and Knox clinched the match with an 8-2 win over DeRoo and Ignatieva at No. 2 doubles. Ole Miss' twin tandem of Irena and Ivona Mihailova defeated Zoe Mellis and Nguyen at No. 3 doubles for the Lady Rebel's other point.
"We are looking forward to the upcoming weekend," head coach Jerry Montgomery said. "We have two big SEC matches against Tennessee and South Carolina, and this match was good preparation for this weekend."
The Lady Rebels will host Tennessee Friday at 2:00 p.m. and South Carolina Sunday at 1:00 p.m. Both matches will be played at the Palmer/Salloum Tennis Center.
#3 Georgia 6#17 Ole Miss 3
SINGLES
#1 Aarthi Venkatesan (UGA) def. Ivona Mihailova (OM) 6-1, 6-4
#2 Esther Knox (UGA) def. Celeste Frey (OM) 6-3, 1-6, 6-3
#3 Marissa Catlin (UGA) def. Julie DeRoo (OM) 6-3, 6-0
#4 Mariana Eberle (OM) def. Lori Grey (UGA) 3-6, 7-5, 6-4
#5 Mira Radu (OM) def. Kelly Baskin (UGA) 6-4, 6-3
#6 Anne Nguyen (UGA) def. Alesya Ignatieva (OM) 6-2,6-3
DOUBLES
#1 Catlin-Grey (UGA) def. Frey-Eberle (OM) 8-6
#2 Venkatesan-Knox (UGA) def. DeRoo-Ignatieva (OM) 8-2
#3 Iv. Mihailova-Ir. Mihailova (OM) def. Zoe Mellis-Nguyen (UGA) 8-6
