The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss
Baylor
Women's Tennis Defeats Baylor 4-3
3/22/2003 | Women's Tennis
March 22, 2003
OXFORD, Miss. - The 51st-ranked Ole Miss women's tennis team, led by senior Mira Radu, defeated 44th-ranked Baylor University 4-3 Saturday afternoon at the Palmer/Salloum Tennis Center. With the win, the Lady Rebels improved to 5-10 overall, while Baylor dropped to 6-9.
Ole Miss got the all important doubles point to begin the match 1-0. The Lady Rebel tandem of Audra Adams and Sabrina Peppl won 8-4 at No. 2 doubles. Baylor won the No. 3 match 8-6, and then Ole Miss' Mira Radu and Virginia Tomatis held off Baylor's Alison Bradley and Daria Potapova 8-6 at the top spot to clinch the point.
Radu came into the match needing one win to claim her 100th career victory, and she wasted little time getting it, downing BU's Anna Moncolova 6-0, 6-1 at No. 1 singles to give the Lady Rebels a 2-0 lead. Radu becomes the fourth Lady Rebel to win 100 career matches. A 2002 All-American and All-SEC selection, Radu joins an elite club that includes All-Americans Paloma Collantes, Agnes Muzamel and Courtenay Chapman.
"We are proud of Mira for winning her 100th career match," head coach Mark Beyers said. "It is a tribute to her hard work and dedication. Mira is an excellent student-athlete, who takes care of her business on and off the court. She is an outstanding representative of the University of Mississippi."
Baylor made it 2-1 when Daria Potapova defeated OM's Tomatis 6-4, 6-1 on court four. A little while later, Lady Rebel Florencia Basile finished off Stephanie Balzert 6-1, 7-5 at No. 3 singles, as Ole Miss went ahead 3-1.
Moments after Basile won, junior Audra Adams clinched the win with her 6-2, 6-4 victory over Zuzana Krchnakova at the No. 6 position. Baylor won the last two matches on courts two and five for the final 4-3 score.
"It was good to get this win," Beyers said. "When you play a non-conference team, you're not only representing your school, but the conference," Beyers said. "We are 2-0 against the Big 12 this season. This team we played almost beat No. 19 Illinois and had match point against Texas. They are 4-1 in the Big 12."
The Lady Rebels get back into SEC play next weekend with a pair of matches against two top 10 teams. On Friday, Ole Miss will host No. 5 Georgia at 2 p.m. and then on Sunday they will face No. 10 Tennessee at 1 p.m.
#51 Ole Miss 4
#44 Baylor 3
SINGLES
#1 Mira Radu (OM) def. Anna Moncolova (BU) 6-0, 6-1
#2 Vida Mulec (BU) def. Karem Harboe (OM) 7-6(6), 6-3
#3 Florencia Basile (OM) def. Stephanie Balzert (BU) 6-1, 7-5
#4 Daria Potapova (BU) def. Virginia Tomatis (OM) 6-4, 6-1
#5 Izabela Mijic (BU) def. Sabrina Peppl (OM) 6-2, 4-6, 1-0
#6 Audra Adams (OM) def. Zuzana Krchnakova (BU) 6-2, 6-4
DOUBLES
#1 Radu-Tomatis (OM) def. Alison Bradley-Potapova (BU) 8-6
#2 Peppl-Adams (OM) def. Moncolova-Mulec (BU) 8-4
#3 Balzert-Mijic (BU) def. Harboe-Basile (OM) 8-6
