The University of Mississippi Athletics
Lady Rebel Netters Set To Begin Season This Weekend
1/26/2006 | Women's Tennis
Jan. 26, 2006
OXFORD, Miss. - The Ole Miss women's tennis will begin the 2006 season this weekend with a pair of matches at the Gillom Sports Center. On Saturday, the Lady Rebels will play Tennessee-Chattanooga at 11 a.m., prior to the men's basketball game versus LSU, and then on Sunday, the team will face Southern Mississippi at 1 p.m.
The Lady Rebels are coming off a season in which they won the SEC Western Division for the first time ever and made their 11th NCAA Championship appearance. The Lady Rebels went 5-0 against division foes last year to claim the title, including defeating arch-rival Mississippi State in the final regular season match.
"We are looking forward to getting the season started," head coach Mark Beyers said. "There is only so much you can do in practice against one another, so it's good to finally face an opponent and see where we are at. We want to encourage everyone to come by the Gillom Sports Center on Saturday and watch the Lady Rebels before going to the men's basketball game."
Senior Virginia Tomatis, ranked No. 89 in the nation, has been a part of putting Ole Miss women's tennis back on the national map and she would like nothing more than to help the team win another SEC Western Division Championship and advance to the NCAA "Sweet Sixteen" in her final campaign. Tomatis had her best season to date in 2005, going 14-9 in dual matches. She also teamed with Chloe Carlotti to earn All-SEC honors for the second year in a row with an 8-3 league record at No. 1 doubles.
Tomatis will be helped out by junior Ilona Somers who has two years of collegiate experience under belt and posted a 15-7 record in her first season (2005) with the Lady Rebels. She and Tomatis are ranked No. 14 in the country in doubles.
The Lady Rebels return the nucleus of last year's championship team including sophomores Nika Koukhartchouk, Mimi Renaudin and Preethi Subramanian, who all contributed to the success of the team in 2005.
Koukhartchouk posted an 8-3 record in the SEC in the top half of the lineup, while Renaudin and Subramanian combined to go 13-8 in the SEC at No. 5 and 6 singles.
Two new faces joined the team in the fall. Kseniia Tokarieva, of the Ukraine, made a big splash in the fall and showed that she will be a force in collegiate tennis with an 8-3 record. A native of Chattanooga, Tenn., Merry Ellen Henry was ranked as high as No. 3 in girl's 18s in the South and has participated in all the national championships since the age of 12.
Tennessee-Chattanooga opens their season Friday at Memphis before coming to Oxford. They Lady Mocs finished the 2005 season at 3-20 and 2-8 in the Southern Conference. They will be led by junior Anastasia Zhukova. A transfer from the University of Iowa, Zhukova was ranked 25th in the Midwest Region at the end of last year. She compiled a 14-2 singles record in the fall.
Southern Mississippi opens its season with Ole Miss. The Golden Eagles posted a 15-8 record in 2005, the most wins for them since the 1984 season.
Admission to all home matches his free.
