The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss
ITA South Regional Championships
Lady Rebel Netters Advance At ITA South Regional
10/13/2005 | Women's Tennis
Oct. 13, 2005
ATHENS, Ga. - Ilona Somers and Carlin Cochran of the Ole Miss women's tennis team advanced to the third round of their respective flights at the ITA South Regional Championships Thursday, at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex.
Somers, ranked No. 100 in the nation, came back to beat Monika Dancevic of Miami 1-6, 7-5, 6-2 in the first round of the Flight "A" singles. In the second round, Somers downed Georgia's Link Leskosky, 6-4, 6-1. The champion of the Ole Miss Fall Classic will face Lyndsey Shosho of Georgia Tech in Friday's third round.
Cochran reached the third round of the Flight "B" singles. After a first-round bye, Cochran dominated Irys Citko of Mercer, 6-1, 6-1, setting up a third round match against Julia von Samson of UAB.
Freshman Ksenia Tokarieva won her first round match against Lucia Polakova of BCC, 6-2, 6-1. In the second round, Tokarieva took one of the top seeds, Courtney Vernon of Miami, to three sets. Tokarieva won the first set 6-4, but Vernon came back to take the second and third sets 7-5, 6-1 respectively.
Ole Miss lost three three-set matches, including two in the first round.
Doubles play will begin Friday, and Ole Miss has three teams.
Somers and Virginia Tomatis are seeded No. 4 in the 32-team field and bring a 7-1 record into their first round match-up versus Alabama's Mari Muller and Shelley Godwin.
Tokarieva and Cochran, who reached the finals of the Blue Draw at the Ole Miss Fall Classic, will face Nikkita Fountain and Daca Jovanovic of Florida International in the first round. Freshman Merry Ellen Henry and sophomore Preethi Subramanian will meet Claudia Strauss and Annabelle Bares of Troy.
The "A" flight singles and doubles winners along with the singles finalist will advance to the ITA/ National Indoor Championships next month on the campus of Ohio State in Columbus. The elite event, slated for Nov. 3-6, is the second collegiate grand slam event of the season. Winners and finalists from the various ITA Regional Championships around the country plus at-large selections will make up the singles field of 32 and the 16-team doubles draw.
ITA SOUTH REGIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS - Athens, Ga.
Flight "A" Singles
First round - Ilona Somers (OM) def. Monika Dancevic (UM) 1-6, 7-5, 6-2; Ksenia Tokarieva (OM) def. Lucia Polakova (BCC) 6-2, 6-1; Mari Muller (ALA) def. Preethi Subramanian (OM) 6-2, 4-6, 6-3; Tapiwa Marobela (FSU) def. Virginia Tomatis (OM) 6-3, 4-6, 6-3. Second round - Somers (OM) def. Link Leskosky (UGA) 6-4, 6-1; Courtney Vernon (UM) def. Tokarieva (OM) 4-6, 7-5, 6-1.
Flight "B" Singles
First round - Samrin Tanzeem (UAB) def. Claire Conerly (OM) 6-3, 6-0. Second round - Daniela Juskova (MSU) def. Merry Ellen Henry (OM) 4-6, 6-1, 6-4; Carlin Cochran (OM) def. Irys Citko (Mercer) 6-1, 6-1.
