The University of Mississippi Athletics
Lady Rebels Ready For Middle Tennessee
5/9/2000 | Women's Tennis
May 9, 2000
NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS - FIRST AND SECOND ROUNDS
May 13-14, 2000
Mobile, Alabama
#17-32 Ole Miss vs. #33-48 Middle Tennessee
Saturday, 9:00 AM
LADY REBELS AMONG FIELD OF 64 ... The Ole Miss women's tennis team is among 64 teams that will begin their quest for a national championship this weekend with the first and second rounds of NCAA Championship play beginning. There will be 16 regional sites consisting of four teams with the winner advancing to the Final 16 in Malibu, Calif.
FIFTH CONSECUTIVE NCAA APPEARANCE ... Ole Miss is making its fifth consecutive appearance in the NCAA Team Championships and eighth overall. The Lady Rebels have participated in the NCAA Championships every year since 1996 and also in 1991, 1992 and 1993.
LADY REBELS SEEDED NO. 17-32 ... The Lady Rebels are seeded No. 17-32 overall and are the No. 2 seed in their regional. South Alabama is the top seed and will host the four-team regional, which also includes Middle Tennessee and Central Florida.
AT THE NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS ... Ole Miss has reached the "Sweet Sixteen" at the NCAA Championships seven times and the quarterfinals twice, including last year.
LAST YEAR AT THE NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS ... The Lady Rebels dominated NCAA regional play last year in Oxford, Miss., downing Maryland 5-0 in the first round and then dominating North Carolina 5-1 in the final to advance to Gainesville, Fla. Once in the final 16, the Lady Rebels defeated Fresno State to reach the quarterfinals for the second year in a row, before falling to Duke.
OLE MISS TO MEET MIDDLE TENNESSEE... Ole Miss will face Middle Tennessee in the first round of the NCAA Championships at 9:00 a.m. at the Bruce David Lubel Memorial Tennis Courts on the campus of South Alabama.
SCOUTING MIDDLE TENNESSEE... Middle Tennessee enters the NCAAs with a 21-8 overall record. They finished 10-0 in the Ohio Valley Conference. The Lady Raiders are led by Tina Hojnik, who owns a 23-15 overall record, 18-9 at No. 1 singles. Ole Miss downed Middle Tennessee 7-2 in in Oxford, in the first match of the regular season on Jan. 17. Middle Tennessee played six schools from the SEC going 1-5 against the league with their lone win coming against Auburn (5-4).
WHAT AWAITS THE WINNER ... The winner of the this match will face the winner between South Alabama and Central Florida in the championship Sunday at noon. South Alabama and UCF meet at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday.
A LOOK AT THE OTHER TWO TEAMS ... South Alabama is hosting their first-ever NCAA event in Mobile. The Jaguars come into the NCAA Championships with a 19-3 record. They have won 14 of their last 15 matches with their only loss in that stretch coming against No. 10 Vanderbilt in Nashville. The Jaguars are led by Martina Ondrejkova, who boast a 20-1 record, 16-0 at No. 2 singles. Their No. 1 player Silvia Sosnarova, holds a 7-9 record and is ranked No. 87 in the nation. Ole Miss defeated South Alabama 6-3 on Feb. 24 in Oxford. Central Florida enters the championships with a 19-5 overall record. The Golden Knights won the Trans America Athletic Conference with a 7-0 mark. They are led by Veronica Widyadharma, who boasts a 22-7 overall record, 15-4 at No. 1 singles.
LADY REBELS MAKE NCAA INDIVIDUAL FIELD ... Ole Miss is one of only three schools to have four players in the NCAA Championship Singles field. Florida and Stanford are the other two. This marks the 11th year in a row that the Lady Rebels have had a representative in the NCAA individual championships. The individual championships will take place May 22-26 in Malibu, Calif. Ivona Mihailova, Celeste Frey, Mira Radu and Julie DeRoo will be competing for the Lady Rebels. Mihailova earned her third trip to the NCAA Singles Championships with a No. 16 ranking. Frey is making her second appearance, while both Radu and DeRoo qualified in their first seasons.
LAST TIME OUT ... Ole Miss is looking to rebound from a disappointing 5-4 loss to Tennessee in the quarterfinal round of the SEC Tournament. Tennessee won four of the six singles matches and then the team of Agnes Wiski and Candy Reid defeated Lady Rebels Ivona Mihailova and Alesya Ignatieva 8-3 at No. 3 doubles to clinch the victory.
WHAT DOES A LOSS MEAN ... The last time the Lady Rebels lost in the quarterfinal round of the SEC Tournament, they reached the quarterfinals at the NCAA Team Championships in Notre Dame, Ind.
TOP FOUR AGAIN ... Ole Miss has finished in the top four of the SEC five consecutive years dating back to 1996 and 14 times overall. That's an impressive statistic when you look at the number of SEC teams consistently ranked among the nation's Top 25 each year.
ALL-SEC AWARDS ... Senior Mariana Eberle was named to the All-SEC first team, while Ivona Mihailova earned second team honors. Eberle posted the best record in the conference at No. 4 singles with a 9-1 mark. It is her second such honor as she also made All-SEC in 1997. Mihailova earned All-SEC honors for the third time in her career. She also made the team in 1997 and 1999.
AMONG THE NATION'S BEST ... Ole Miss is currently ranked No. 16 in the latest WingspanBank.com Rankings released May 3. In singles, Ivona Mihailova is ranked No. 16, Celeste Frey is ranked No. 35, Mira Radu is ranked No. 34, Julie DeRoo is ranked No. 44 and Mariana Eberle is ranked No. 89.
LADY REBELS VS. THE TOP 25 ... The Lady Rebels have a 6-7 record versus teams ranked in the Top 25 at the time of the match. In fact, Ole Miss has not lost to an opponent ranked outside the Top 25.
EXPERIENCE IS ON OUR SIDE ... The Lady Rebels have experience on their side as they boast four seniors on the squad. Mariana Eberle, Celeste Frey, Irena Mihailova and Ivona Mihailova have combined to win more than 300 matches in both singles and doubles during their careers. This year they are a combined 54-21 in dual matches.
FRESHMEN MAKING A CONTRIBUTION ... With the loss of two All-Americans in Agnes Muzamel and Courtenay Chapman head coach Jerry Montgomery knew it would be difficult to replace them in the lineup. However, freshmen Mira Radu and Julie DeRoo have contributed solidly to the Lady Rebel lineup. Radu, who is ranked No. 34 in the nation, is 32-11 overall and 14-6 in dual matches. She is 9-1 at No. 5 singles. DeRoo boast an overall record of 22-11 and is 8-8 in dual matches despite, not being 100 percent most of the spring.
20-WIN CLUB ... All six Lady Rebels in the lineup have won at least 20 matches this year. Freshman Mira Radu leads the team with a 32-10 record. Sophomore Alesya Ignatieva is 24-12, Ivona Mihailova and Julie DeRoo are 22-11, Mariana Eberle is 23-8 and Celeste Frey is 22-12.
STREAKS ... Mariana Eberle has won eight of her last nine matches including a win over then 17th-ranked Lori Grey of Georgia. Celeste Frey has won five out of her last six including a win over t66th ranked Ana Paula Mores of LSU. Freshman Mira Radu has won six of her last seven matches.
MIHAILOVA JOINS 100 CLUB ... Senior Ivona Mihailova became a member of the 100 club this spring as she posted the 100th victory in her career. Mihailova has 104 career victories. She downed Auburn's Kate Illarionova 6-2, 6-0 to capture her 100th victory. Mihailova joins former All-Americans Paloma Collantes, Marie-Laure Bougnol, Courtenay Chapman and Agnes Muzamel who have won 100 matches in a career.
MIHAILOVA WINS POSTGRADUATE SCHOLARSHIP ... Senior Irena Mihailova was one of 24 male and female finalists for the H. Boyd McWhorter SEC Scholar Athlete of the Year Award and received a $5,000 Postgraduate Scholarship from the SEC.
ANOTHER HONOR FOR MIHAILOVA ... The awards keep coming in for senior Irena Mihailova. She was recently honored with a Taylor Medal (one of the highest academic honors bestowed upon a student at the University of Mississippi) for the School of Accounting.
LADY REBELS MAKE THE GRADE ... Julie Charvat, Camilla Gould, Mariana Eberle, Celeste Frey, Irena Mihailova and Ivona Mihailova of the Ole Miss women's tennis team were among 56 student-athletes named to the 2000 Women's Tennis SEC Academic Honor Roll.
Sophomore Camilla Gould of Montgomery, Ala, boasts a 3.67 in Accounting. A member of the Chancellor's Honor Roll every semester, this is Gould's first time to be named to the SEC Academic Honor Roll. Charvat, a junior from Destrehan, La., has a 3.96 grade point average in Electrical Engineering. Frey, a senior from Reconquista, Argentina, owns a 3.40 GPA in Dietetics and is also making her first appearance on the honor roll. On the court, she is nationally-ranked in singles with a 22-12 overall record.
Eberle, also a senior, registers a 3.30 in Journalism and is a first-timer on the honor roll. She is nationally-ranked in singles with a 23-8 record. Senior Ivona Mihailova holds a 3.66 in International Business and has been named to the SEC honor roll three times. She is currently ranked No. 16 in the nation in singles. Irena, who is one of four seniors on the team, has a perfect 4.0 in Accounting and is a three-time member of the honor roll.
OLE MISS' NCAA
TOURNAMENT RESULTS
1991: Palo Alto, California
1st round Ole Miss 5, San Diego 1
2nd round UCLA 5, Ole Miss 1
1992: Palo Alto, California
1st round Ole Miss 5, San Diego 4
2nd round Stanford 5, Ole Miss 1
1993: Gainesville, Florida
1st round Ole Miss 5, San Diego St. 3
2nd round California 5, Ole Miss 2
1996: Tallahassee, Florida
Midwest Regional Ole Miss 5, Purdue 1
Midwest Regional Ole Miss 5, Minnesota 2
Midwest Regional Ole Miss 5, Northwestern 2
Sweet Sixteen Arizona 5, Ole Miss 0
1997: Palo Alto, California
Central Regional Ole Miss 5, Oklahoma 0
Central Regional Ole Miss 5, BYU 0
Central Regional Ole Miss 5, Arkansas 1
Sweet Sixteen Arizona State 5, Ole Miss 1
1998: Notre Dame, Indiana
Sweet Sixteen Ole Miss 5, Arizona State 2
Quarterfinals Duke 5, Ole Miss 0
1999: Gainesville, Florida
Sweet Sixteen Ole Miss 5, Fresno State 1
Quarterfinals Duke 5, Ole Miss 0
Miscellaneous Win-Loss Records
All Matches 15-7
Home Matches 8-3
Away Matches 6-1
Neutral Site Matches 1-3
Southeastern Conference Matches 8-3
SEC Home Matches 3-2
SEC Road Matches 5-1
SEC Neutral Site Matches 0-1
vs. Ranked Opponents 12-7
vs. Top 25 Opponents 6-7
vs. Top 10 Opponents 0-3
January 3-0
February 5-2
March 4-3
April 3-2
May 0-0
Sundays 4-2
Mondays 1-0
Tuesdays 2-0
Wednesdays 0-0
Thursdays 2-1
Fridays 2-4
Saturdays 3-0
Indoors 8-4 Outdoors 7-3
Record When Ole Miss Wins:
6 singles matches 6-0
5 singles matches 4-0
4 singles matches 4-0
3 singles matches 1-2
2 singles matches 0-5