The University of Mississippi Athletics
Women's Tennis To Host SEC East Foes This Weekend
3/24/2005 | Women's Tennis
March 24, 2005
OXFORD, Miss. - The 46th-ranked Ole Miss women's tennis team will get back into Southeastern Conference play this weekend, hosting a pair of top 25 teams at the Palmer/Salloum Tennis Center. The Lady Rebels will welcome No. 19 Tennessee Friday at 4 p.m. and then host No. 4 Georgia on Easter Sunday at 1 p.m.
Ole Miss dominated Tennessee Tech 6-1 last Thursday at the Palmer/Salloum Tennis Center to improve to 9-4 overall. The Lady Rebels have been tough to beat at home this season, posting an 8-1 record, with their only loss coming in the season opener against South Florida (4-3).
Senior All-American Chloe Carlotti is providing great leadership this season for the Lady Rebels. She currently owns a 17-7 overall record and is 10-3 at No. 1 singles. Carlotti is a combined 21-5 at No. 1 singles and doubles. Carlotti and junior Virginia Tomatis are 17-5 overall and 11-2 at No. 1 doubles. They are currently 3-1 in the SEC.
The Lady Rebel freshmen are getting it done in the lineup. Preethi Subramanian joined the team in January and has gone 9-1 in dual matches, 8-1 at No. 6 singles. Mimi Renaudin owns a 9-3 dual match record, 8-2 at No. 5 singles. Nika Koukhartchouk is 8-3 in dual matches, 5-2 at No. 4 singles, and 3-1 at No. 3 singles. All three have combined for a 10-2 record in the SEC thus far.
"We are ready to play this weekend," head coach Mark Beyers said. "Coming off a two-win SEC weekend and being able to win midweek as well was huge. These are two very good teams, but they are not unbeatable. We need to continue to play the way we've been playing, and I feel that we have enough talent to beat teams like this when we play well."
Tennessee comes into the weekend at 10-4 overall, 3-1 in the SEC. The Lady Vols are coming off a 5-2 loss at Texas Wednesday night. Their lone conference loss is to Alabama, who Ole Miss beat 5-2. Tennessee is led by 42nd-ranked Sabita Maharaj, who is 9-5 at No. 1 singles. She has won six of her last seven, including defeating three ranked opponents.
The Lady Rebels will be looking to snap a five match losing streak to the Lady Vols. Ole Miss defeated Tennessee 5-4 on April 7, 2000 in Oxford but Tennessee got revenge later that month when the Lady Rebels hosted the SEC Tournament, winning 5-4. The Lady Rebels came close to snapping the streak last year in Knoxville, but Tennessee came out on top, 4-3.
Georgia comes into the weekend with a 10-2 overall record, 4-0 in the SEC. Last week, Georgia was upset 4-3 by Georgia Tech, marking the first-ever win by the Yellow Jackets over the Bulldogs. The Bulldogs are led by Shadisha Robinson, who is ranked fifth nationally with a 26-7 overall record, 8-3 at No. 1 singles. Sophomore Natalie Frazier, ranked 23rd nationally, holds a record of 27-5 on the year and owns a 14-match winning streak in singles. Frazier is 12-3 against ranked opponents this year and is 10-0 in team dual matches at the number two spot in the lineup. Georgia's top tandem of sophomores Shadisha Robinson and Caroline Basu are ranked seventh nationally with a 15-2 mark and have won seven straight matches. They are 11-1 in team dual matches.
Ole Miss will seek to end a five-match losing streak to Georgia when the two teams meet on Sunday. The last time the Lady Rebels defeated the Bulldogs, was a 5-4 win in the semifinals of the SEC Tournament in 1999. The Lady Rebels' last regular season win came in 1996 (6-3).
Admission to both matches is free.
