The University of Mississippi Athletics
Women's Tennis To Host Arch-Rival Mississippi State Friday
4/9/2003 | Women's Tennis
April 9, 2003
OXFORD, Miss. - The Ole Miss women's tennis team, ranked No. 47 in this week's Omni Hotels National Rankings, will host arch-rival Mississippi State Friday at 2 p.m. at the Palmer/Salloum Tennis Center for Senior Day.
The Lady Rebels are coming off a split of their matches last weekend, downing Arkansas 6-1 and then falling to LSU 4-3 on the road. With the loss to LSU, the Lady Rebels suffered their first defeat to the Lady Tigers in 11 years. It also marked the Lady Rebels' fifth 4-3 loss this season.
Prior to the start of the match the Lady Rebels will honor their lone senior, Mira Radu, who is winding down an outstanding career at Ole Miss. Radu became the fourth Lady Rebel to win 100 career matches in singles earlier this season and currently stands at 102. She has won six of her last seven, including a win over the nation's No. 2 ranked player. Radu moved up to No. 21 in the latest singles rankings released Wednesday.
"You can throw out the records when you're playing against your arch-rival," head coach Mark Beyers said. "They will be ready for us. It is going to be a special day with Senior Day, and we would like to send Mira out with a win. We want to encourage all the fans to come out and help us beat State for the 14th year in a row."
Mississippi State comes into the match at 7-11 overall and 1-9 in the SEC. They defeated Arkansas 4-1 last Sunday to win their first conference match of the season. The Lady Bulldogs had lost 10 straight prior to the Arkansas win. Magdi Rekasi plays No. 1 for the Lady Bulldogs and owns a 3-12 record there. Mississippi State is winless on the road.
The Lady Rebels have won 13 straight against Mississippi State, including last year's 6-0 win in Starkville. The Lady Bulldogs' last win in the series was a 7-2 victory in 1989. Ole Miss leads the all-time series 39-5.
