The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss
Southern Mississippi
Women's Tennis Downs Southern Miss 6-1
1/29/2006 | Women's Tennis
Jan. 29, 2006
OXFORD, Miss. - The Ole Miss women's tennis team, ranked No. 36 in the nation, had a successful debut to the season, downing Southern Mississippi 6-1 Sunday afternoon at the Gillom Sports Center to go 2-0 on the opening weekend. On Saturday, the Lady Rebels dominated Tennessee-Chattanooga, 6-1.
Ole Miss swept the doubles for the second straight day to take the early 1-0 lead. Virginia Tomatis and Ilona Somers, ranked No. 14 in the nation in doubles, won both their matches to improve to 11-4 on the year.
Freshman Kseniia Tokarieva went 4-0 on the weekend, with two more wins on Sunday. She teamed with Nika Koukhartchouk for an 8-2 victory in doubles and then shut out her singles opponent, Natalia Parrado, 6-0, 6-0 at the No. 3 spot.
Senior Virginia Tomatis rebounded from a tough loss on Saturday in her first action at No. 1 singles, to post a 6-0, 6-2 win over USM's Sherry Price, giving the Lady Rebels a 3-0 lead.
Koukhartchouk defeated Lady Eagle Grace Kammerer, 6-4, 6-4 to clinch the win for Ole Miss.
Sophomore Preethi Subramanian handed Southern Miss' Ali Blackett a 6-4, 6-2 loss at No. 4 singles and then Carlin Cochran beat USM's Nikhila Narra 6-3, 7-5 to make it 6-0 Lady Rebels.
The Lady Eagle's only point on the day came at No. 6 singles, where Courtney Ulrich defeated Lady Rebel Sarah Sabin, 4-6, 6-1, 10-8.
"Obviously we had a successful weekend with two wins to start the season," head coach Mark Beyers said. "These teams come in here and this is their big match of the year, playing a ranked team from the SEC. They have nothing to lose. We played well, but we still have plenty of room for improvement to get where we want to be.
"Kseniia steamrolled through her matches this weekend. Nika didn't play her best, but found a way to win. I was proud of Vicki coming back strong today after losing a tough match on Saturday."
The Lady Rebels will return to the courts Feb. 10 as they host Southern University at 1 p.m.
DOUBLES
#1 Tomatis/Somers (OM) def. Kammerer/Price (USM) 8-3
#2 Koukhartchouk/Tokarieva (OM) def. Blackett/Narra (USM) 8-2
#3 Subramanian/Cochran (OM) def. Parrado/Ulrich (USM) 8-3
SINGLES
#1 Virginia Tomatis (OM) def. Sherry Price (USM) 6-0, 6-2
#2 Nika Koukhartchouk (OM) def. Grace Kammerer (USM) 6-4, 6-4
#3 Kseniia Tokarieva (OM) def. Natalia Parrado (USM) 6-0, 6-0
#4 Preethi Subramanian (OM) def. Ali Blackett (USM) 6-4, 6-2
#5 Carlin Cochran (OM) vs. Nikhila Narra (USM) 6-3, 7-5
#6 Courtney Ulrich (USM) def. Sarah Sabin (OM) 4-6, 6-1, 10-8
