The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss
Florida
Women's Tennis Loses Hard-Fought Match To Florida
3/1/2002 | Women's Tennis
March 1, 2002
OXFORD, Miss. - The 39th-ranked Ole Miss women's tennis team battled No. 5 Florida in a hard-fought match that was closer than the 6-1 final score Friday afternoon at the Gillom Sports Center.
The Lady Rebels (6-2, 0-1) looked strong in doubles against one of the nation's best teams. Ole Miss' Karem Harboe and Florencia Basile defeated Alexis Gordon and Julie Scaringe of Florida 8-5 at No. 2 doubles. The Lady Rebels had a 6-5 lead at the No. 1 spot, but Florida would come back to win that one, 8-6. It appeared that the Lady Rebels would still claim the opening point as Camilla Gould and Mira Radu raced out to a 6-3 lead over Annika Bengtsson and Zerene Reyes at No. 3 doubles. However, the Gator duo wouldn't go away forcing a tiebreaker, which they won 9-8(4) to clinch the point.
Ole Miss found itself in a hole early in singles, losing all three first sets. Lehnhoff, ranked No. 2 in singles, beat Radu, who is No. 12 in the nation, 6-4, 6-1 at the top spot to make it 2-0 Gators. The Lady Rebels battled back in two of the top three matches to win the second sets.
Alesya Ignatieva rallied in her match to UF's Lindsay Dawaf before losing 6-2, 3-6, 6-0 at No. 2 singles as the Gators took a 3-0 lead. Harboe dropped her first set against Reyes 6-1, but won the second set 6-0. Reyes started off strong in the decisive set and went on for a 6-2 win to give Florida the victory.
Ole Miss' only singles win came at No. 6 singles, when Scaringe retired at 3-1 in the first set with a shoulder injury, giving Audra Adams the win.
The Lady Rebels will look for their first SEC win of the season Sunday, as they host No. 25 South Carolina, a 5-1 winner over Mississippi State on Friday. That match will be played at noon at the Gillom Sports Center.
#5 Florida 6
#39 Ole Miss 1
SINGLES
#1 Jessica Lehnhoff (UF) def. Mira Radu (OM) 6-4, 6-1
#2 Lindsay Dawaf (UF) def. Alesya Ignatieva (OM) 6-2, 3-6, 6-0
#3 Zerene Reyes (UF) def. Karem Harboe (OM) 6-1, 0-6, 6-2
#4 Alexis Gordon (UF) def. Sabrina Peppl (OM) 6-0, 7-6(2)
#5 Annika Bengtsson (UF) def. Florencia Basile (OM) 2-6, 6-3, 10-6
#6 Audra Adams (OM) def. Julie Scaringe (UF) 3-1, ret.
DOUBLES
#1 Lehnhoff-Dawaf (UF) def. Ignatieva-Adams (OM) 8-6
#2 Harboe-Basile (OM) def. Gordon-Scaringe (UF) 8-5
#3 Bengtsson-Reyes (UF) def. Radu-Gould (OM) 9-8(4)
