The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss
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Mississippi St
Women's Tennis Clinches SEC Western Division Championship
4/15/2005 | Women's Tennis
April 15, 2005
OXFORD, Miss. - The Ole Miss women's tennis team downed in-state rival Mississippi State 6-1 Friday evening on Senior Day at the Palmer/Salloum Tennis Center to clinch the SEC Western Division Championship.
This marks the first ever SEC Western Division Championship for the Lady Rebels (12-6, 5-6) who finished with the same conference record as Mississippi State (11-6, 5-6). The Lady Rebels have now won 16 straight against State and increased their series lead to 42-5.
"We are very excited to win the SEC West title, and especially the way we did it," head coach Mark Beyers said. "Playing Mississippi State is special anyway, but playing for the title made it even more special. This win speaks volumes to where this team is. We fought through a lot of close losses. It's great to see all the hard work pay off."
The Lady Rebels, ranked No. 48 nationally, came out strong in doubles and swept the matches to take a 1-0 lead. Ilona Somers and Mimi Renaudin posted an 8-0 win at No. 2 doubles, and then Nika Koukhartchouk and Preethi Subramanian clinched the point with an 8-5 win at No. 3. The All-SEC duo of Chloe Carlotti and Virginia Tomatis, ranked No. 38 in the nation, defeated their second top 15 team in a week, upsetting State's 13th-ranked duo of Zsuzsanna Fodor and Anastasia Kugakolova 9-7 at the top spot. The Reb tandem trailed 7-5 and had two match points against them, but they rallied to even the score at 7-7. Carlotti and Tomatis then broke to go up 8-7, but found themselves down 15-40 in their service game. Once again, they came back, to take a 9-7 win and improve to 16-4 at No. 1 doubles and finish 8-3 in the SEC for the second year in a row.
After honoring Carlotti with her senior award, the Lady Rebels took to the courts for singles and started off by winning five of the first sets.
State's Fodor, ranked No. 18 in the country, handed Carlotti, ranked No. 43, a 6-1, 6-2 loss, to even the match. MSU never got any closer to ending the losing streak, as Ole Miss dominated on the remaining five courts.
Ole Miss' Renaudin cruised to a 6-1, 6-1 win over Magdi Rekasi at No. 5 singles to put the Lady Rebels back on top 2-1. With the win, Renaudin improved to 11-6 at No. 5 singles. Moments later, her doubles partner, Somers, finished off Lady Bulldog Tarryn Rudman 6-3, 6-3 to make it 3-1.
Subramanian defeated Polina Kokoulina 6-4, 6-2 on court six to clinch the win and the SEC West for the Lady Rebels. She is now 11-4 at No. 6 singles and completed her first campaign in the SEC at 7-3.
The Lady Rebels finished out the scoring as Tomatis beat MSU's Renee' Joseph 6-4, 6-3 at No. 4 singles, and Koukhartchouk topped State's Kugakolova 6-4, 6-4 on court two.
"It's an awesome feeling to win the SEC West," Carlotti said. "I wish I could have won my singles, match but I am happy because we won. The team played so well."
The Lady Rebels will now travel to Tuscaloosa, Ala., next week for the SEC Women's Tennis Championships to be held April 21-24 at the UA Varsity Courts on the University of Alabama campus.
DOUBLES
#1 Carlotti/Tomatis (OM) def. Fodor/Kugakolova (MSU) 9-7
#2 Somers/Renaudin (OM) def. Rekasi/Kokoulina (MSU) 8-0
#3 Koukhartchouk/Subramanian (OM) def. Rudman/Rudman (MSU) 8-5
SINGLES
#1 Zsuzsanna Fodor (MSU) def. Chloe Carlotti (OM) 6-1, 6-2
#2 Nika Koukhartchouk (OM) def. Anastasia Kugakolova (MSU) 6-4, 6-4
#3 Ilona Somers (OM) def. Tarryn Rudman (OM) 6-3, 6-3
#4 Virginia Tomatis (OM) def. Renee' Joseph (MSU) 6-4, 6-3
#5 Mimi Renaudin (OM) def. Magdi Rekasi (MSU) 6-1, 6-1
#6 Preethi Subramanian (OM) def. Polina Kokoulina (MSU) 6-4, 6-2
