The University of Mississippi Athletics
Women's Tennis To Host Big Weekend In SEC
3/24/2004 | Women's Tennis
March 24, 2004
OXFORD, Miss. - The 58th-ranked Ole Miss women's tennis team will host SEC Western Division foes LSU and Arkansas this weekend at the Palmer/Salloum Tennis Center. The Lady Rebels will get an opportunity to improve on their ranking, when they face 25th-ranked LSU Friday at 4 p.m.
The Lady Rebels return home, after playing four straight conference matches on the road. They dropped a close 4-3 match to Tennessee and then lost to No. 2 Georgia, 7-0 on the road last weekend.
Junior Chloe Carlotti jumped up 22 spots in the latest singles rankings to No. 53 after she upset then 24th-ranked Tammy Encina of Tennessee last weekend. Carlotti and doubles partner, Virginia Tomatis, entered the rankings at No. 36 after posting a huge upset over the nation's No. 4 team from Georgia. The Lady Reb duo is 10-4 at No. 1 doubles.
While Carlotti and Tomatis have posted a 10-4 record at No. 1 doubles, the senior tandem of Karem Harboe and Florencia Basile are 12-2 at the No. 3 position. Basile will also look to improve on her 11-4 dual match record in singles.
"This is an important weekend for us in the SEC and nationally, as we enter the stretch run of our schedule," head coach Mark Beyers said. "LSU has posted some good wins over top 20 teams. The last two meetings have been very close. We would like to encourage all our fans to come out and support us. The fans can make a huge difference in the match."
LSU upset its second consecutive top-20 opponent Friday when they beat Kentucky, 4-3, in Baton Rouge. The Tigers (9-6, 1-5) earned their first conference victory with that win, and as a result, jumped to No. 25 in the national rankings. They are led by Jessica Ferguson, who comes into the match ranked No. 62 with a 5-8 record. She had two big wins since the last poll was released over then-No. 62 Sabita Maharaj of Tennessee and No. 21 Jessica Roland of Texas A&M.
Ole Miss leads the all-time series 18-10 and has won 12 of the last 13 meetings. LSU won the regular season meeting last year in Baton Rouge, 4-3, to snap an 11-match losing streak to Ole Miss, but the Lady Rebels rebounded to post a 4-3 victory against the Tigers in the first round of the SEC Tournament. The last time the two teams met in Oxford, Ole Miss escaped with a 4-3 win.
On Sunday, the Lady Rebels will host Arkansas at 1 p.m. Arkansas comes into the weekend at 8-7 overall and 0-6 in the SEC. They are coming off a 5-2 loss to Kentucky last Sunday. The Lady Razorbacks are led by Megan Ferreira, who is 1-6 at No. 1 singles and 3-2 at No. 2. Ana Dybicz is 3-3 at the top spot and 4-2 at No. 2 singles. In doubles, the Lady'Back duo of Simona Arghire and Iliana Pacheco is 6-1 at the No. 3 position.
Ole Miss leads the all-time series 15-5, 13-2 since 1990. The Lady Rebels defeated the Lady'Backs 6-1 last year in Fayetteville. The last time the two teams met in Oxford (2002), the Lady Rebels won 7-0.
