The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss
Vanderbilt
Women' s Tennis Falls To No. 2 Vanderbilt 6-1
3/10/2002 | Women's Tennis
March 10, 2002
OXFORD, Miss. - The Ole Miss women's tennis team fought hard Sunday afternoon against the nation's No. 2 team, Vanderbilt, before falling 6-1 at the Palmer/Salloum Tennis Center.
Vanderbilt (17-2, 3-1) took the early 1-0 lead by claiming all three doubles positions. Ole Miss (6-5, 0-4) was serving to go ahead 5-2 at No. 2 doubles and led 7-5 at No. 3 doubles before seeing the Commodores come back to win both.
In singles, the Lady Rebels took three matches to three sets. Vanderbilt went up 2-0 after Aleke Tsoubanos downed Ole Miss' Florencia Basile 6-1, 6-3 at the No. 5 spot. The Commodores increased their lead to 3-0 when Lady Rebel Audra Adams dropped her match to Annie Menees 6-3, 6-2 at No. 6 singles.
The feature match between ninth-ranked Sarah Riske and 13th-ranked Mira Radu, went to Vanderbilt 6-4, 6-1. That clinched the win for the Commodores. Alesya Ignatieva, ranked 69th, won her first set against 38th-ranked Jenny Miller 6-4, but Miller rallied to win the final two 6-0, 6-2 to extend the Commodore lead to 5-0.
Karem Harboe came back from a set down against Katie Blaszak at No. 3 singles to win 1-6, 6-4, 6-0. The win snapped a three-match losing streak for Harboe. Vanderbilt rounded out the scoring with a win at No. 4 singles. Lady Rebel Sabrina Peppl lost the first set 6-0 to Kelly Schmandt, but forced a third set by winning the second 6-4. Schmandt won the third 6-2.
"I am proud of the team," head coach Mark Beyers said. "We gave a great effort against a really tough team. Vanderbilt showed why they are the No. 2 team in the nation. We pushed Vanderbilt in almost every match. I am proud of Karem for coming back and winning in three sets.
"Even though we are 0-4 in the SEC, we have played four tough teams, including three in the top 11. We've shown that we can compete with those teams. If we play at this level against the teams we will face this week in the West, we can pick up some wins."
The Lady Rebels look to snap a five-match losing streak Wednesday, as they take on the fourth-ranked team in Division II, West Florida in Pensacola, Fla. Following that match,the Lady Rebels begin their quest for the SEC Western Division with matches at Auburn (Friday) and Alabama (Sunday).
#2 Vanderbilt 6
#40 Ole Miss 1
SINGLES
#1 Sarah Riske (VU) def. Mira Radu (OM) 6-4, 6-1
#2 Jenny Miller (VU) def. Alesya Ignatieva (OM) 4-6, 6-0, 6-2
#3 Karem Harboe (OM) def. Katie Blaszak (VU) 1-6, 6-4, 6-0
#4 Kelly Schmandt (VU) def. Sabrina Peppl (OM) 6-0, 4-6, 6-2
#5 Aleke Tsoubanos (VU) def. Florencia Basile (OM) 6-1, 6-3
#6 Annie Menees (VU) def. Audra Adams (OM) 6-3, 6-2
DOUBLES
#1 Riske-Tsoubanos (VU) def. Ignatieva-Adams (OM) 8-2
#2 Kate Burson-Menees (VU) def. Harboe-Basile (OM) 8-4
#3 Miller-Schmandt (VU) def. Radu-Gould (OM) 9-7
