The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss
SEC Championships - Alabama
Women's Tennis Downs Alabama 4-0 At SEC Tournament
4/18/2002 | Women's Tennis
April 18, 2002
COLUMBIA, S.C. - The No. 8 seeded Ole Miss women's tennis team downed ninth-seeded Alabama 4-0 in the first round of the SEC Tournament Thursday morning at the Sam Daniels Tennis Center to win their fourth in a row and advance to the quarterfinals. With the win, the Lady Rebels improve to 12-9 overall and will face the top-seeded Georgia Lady Bulldogs Friday at 10 a.m.
The win marks the second one this year for the Lady Rebels over Alabama (12-10). Ole Miss defeated the Crimson Tide 4-3 in the regular season in Tuscaloosa. The Lady Rebels have now won 22 of 24 against the Tide and lead the overall series 24-6.
Unlike their first meeting this year, the Lady Rebels came out strong in the doubles to take the 1-0 lead. Ole Miss won at No. 1 doubles 8-5 and then Alabama took the No. 2 position 8-3. The Lady Rebels clinched the point with a 8-5 win at No. 3 doubles, as Mira Radu and Camilla Gould played together for the first since the Georgia match, when Gould injured her ankle.
In singles, Ole Miss gained the early momentum, winning the first set on five of the six courts. The Lady Rebels picked up two quick victories at the top positions. Radu, recent selection to the All-SEC team, downed Selia Mathew 6-3, 6-2 at the top spot to win her 33rd match of the year and improve to 14-6 at No. 1 singles. Senior Alesya Ignatieva cruised to a 6-3, 6-2 win over Jenny Ketchum at No. 2 singles to make it 3-0 Ole Miss. She has won eight of her last nine matches.
Sophomore Florencia Basile finished off Tide senior Weyli Chang 6-4, 6-4 at the No. 4 spot to clinch the victory and put the Lady Rebels in the quarterfinals for the first time since 2000. Basile has won four in a row.
"We came out today and won the doubles point and that started the whole thing," head coach Mark Beyers said. "It gave the team an extra fire going into singles, especially with the heat (93 degrees and heat index of over 100). We did a good job of winning five of the first sets in singles. Mira and Alesya took care of business at the top two spots. Florencia played a great match. This was one of our better matches all year, when you factor in the conditions. We are looking forward to another opportunity to play Georgia, who we lost a close match too in Athens."
In the regular season meeting against Georgia the Lady Rebels posted some impressive victories at the top three positions, but the Lady Bulldogs won the doubles point and the bottom three spots to avoid the upset. The last time Ole Miss defeated Georgia was in the 1999 SEC Tournament when the Lady Rebels won the semifinal match-up 5-4 on their way to the title.
SEC WOMEN'S TENNIS TOURNAMENT - Columbia, S.C.
#8 seed Ole Miss 4
#9 seed Alabama 0
SINGLES
#1 Mira Radu (OM) def. Selia Mathew (UA) 6-3, 6-2
#2 Alesya Ignatieva (OM) def. Jenny Ketchum (UA) 6-3, 6-2
#3 Karem Harboe (OM) vs. Millie Begovic (UA) DNF
#4 Florencia Basile (OM) def. Weyli Chang (UA) 6-4, 6-4
#5 Sabrina Peppl (OM) vs. Becca Baum (UA) DNF
#6 Audra Adams (OM) vs. Stefanie Leung (UA) DNF
DOUBLES
#1 Ignatieva-Adams (OM) def. Begovic-Chang (UA) 8-5
#2 Ketchum-Mathew (UA) def. Harboe-Basile (OM) 8-3
#3 Radu-Camilla Gould (OM) def. Baum-Leung (UA) 8-5
