The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss
Alabama
Women's Tennis Takes Down No. 26 Alabama 5-2
3/11/2005 | Women's Tennis
March 11, 2005
OXFORD, Miss. - The 65th-ranked Ole Miss women's tennis team won the doubles point and got straight set wins in four of the six singles matches on their way to a 5-2 win over 26th-ranked Alabama on a cool and windy Friday at the Palmer/Salloum Tennis Center.
With the win, the Lady Rebels improve to 7-4 overall and grab their first conference win (1-2). Alabama fell to 5-6 overall and 1-2 in the SEC. Ole Miss snapped a two-match losing streak to the Crimson Tide and improved their series lead to 26-9.
"It was great for us to come back after a tough loss at Kentucky," head coach Mark Beyers said. "It was important for us to realize that we played a great team and almost beat them at their place and that we are a good team. This was a solid victory against the No. 26 team in the nation. We showed we belong in that part of the rankings. This is a major step in capturing the SEC Western Division. We have another tough match on Sunday, and we need to play with this same energy."
Ole Miss won the all-important doubles point to take the early 1-0 lead. Chloe Carlotti and Virginia Tomatis, ranked No. 34 in the nation, defeated UA's Robin Stephenson and Natalie McElveen 8-5 at No. 1 doubles. Carlotti and Tomatis improved to 9-2 at No. 1 doubles. Alabama got the No. 3 spot 8-6. The Lady Rebel duo of Ilona Somers and Mimi Renaudin came back to beat Ashley Bentley and Melissa Minor 8-6 on court two to secure the first point. Ole Miss improved to 7-1 on the season when they win the doubles point.
Alabama quickly evened the score at 1-1 with Bentley's 6-1, 6-1 win over Somers at No. 2 singles. Bentley came into the match having won 10 in a row and undefeated in dual matches (11-0).
Ole Miss' Renaudin put the Lady Rebels up 2-1 as she finished off the Tide's Mari Muller 6-2, 6-4 on court five. Moments later, Tomatis completed an impressive match against UA's Minor, 6-1, 6-2, to give Ole Miss a 3-1 advantage. Tomatis is now 7-2 at No. 3 singles.
Shortly after Tomatis made it 3-1, freshman Nika Koukhartchouk broke Alabama's Andrea Brenes at 6-1, 5-3 to win the match and clinch the victory. Freshman Preethi Subramanian cruised to a 6-2, 6-2 decision on court six against McElveen to increase the lead to 5-1.
Alabama's other point came at No. 1 singles, where seventh-ranked Stephenson held off 46th-ranked Carlotti. Carlotti served for the first set, but Stephenson broke and went on to win a tiebreaker 7-6(7). Stephenson got up early in the second set and won 6-2.
The Lady Rebels will now get ready to host Auburn Sunday at 1 p.m. The Tigers lost 6-1 at Mississippi State on Friday. Ole Miss has won 13 of the last 15 meetings with Auburn and owns a 21-9 lead in the series.
DOUBLES
#1 Carlotti/Tomatis (OM) def. Stephenson/McElveen (UA) 8-5
#2 Somers/Renaudin (OM) def. Bentley/Minor (UA) 8-6
#3 Muller/Brenes (UA) def. Koukhartchouk/Subramanian (OM) 8-6
SINGLES
#1 Robin Stephenson (UA) def. Chloe Carlotti (OM) 7-6(6), 6-2
#2 Ashley Bentley (UA) def. Ilona Somers (OM) 6-1, 6-1
#3 Virginia Tomatis (OM) def. Melissa Minor (UA) 6-1, 6-2
#4 Nika Koukhartchouk (OM) def. Andrea Brenes (UA) 6-1, 6-3
#5 Mimi Renaudin (OM) def. Mari Muller (UA) 6-2, 6-4
#6 Preethi Subramanian (OM) def. Natalie McElveen (UA) 6-2, 6-2
