The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss
Illinois
Lady Rebel Netters Defeat Illinois 4-3 On The Road
2/18/2006 | Women's Tennis
Feb. 18, 2006
URBANA, Ill. - In their first road match of the season, the 35th-ranked Ole Miss women's tennis team held off 48th-ranked Illinois 4-3 Saturday afternoon at the Atkins Tennis Center to improve to 4-0 on the year.
"It's always good to get a road win against a ranked team, especially against another conference," head coach Mark Beyers said. "When you play non-conference teams, you are not only representing Ole Miss, but the Southeastern Conference as well. Illinois played a good match. It was a good test for us. They had a good crowd, and they were loud. We are happy that we are on this side of the 4-3 score. We are looking forward to coming home and hosting two matches."
The Lady Rebels won the doubles point to take a 1-0 lead. The Russian duo of Nika Koukhartchouk and Kseniia Tokarieva notched their fourth win of the spring with an impressive 8-1 victory at the No. 2 spot. Sophomores Preethi Subramanian and Mimi Renaudin defeated Illinois' Alejandra Meza Cuadra and Shivani Dave' 8-5 at No. 3 doubles to nab the point.
Subramanian quickly put the Lady Rebels up 2-0 as she downed the Illini's Emily Wang, 6-2, 6-1 at No. 5 singles to improve to 4-0 in dual matches.
Illinois got on the board when Macall Harkins beat 89th-ranked Virginia Tomatis, 6-3, 6-4 at the top spot.
Tokarieva stepped up and handed her doubles opponent, Dave' a 6-4, 6-0 loss at No. 4 singles to give Ole Miss a 3-1 lead, which they would not relinquish. Tokarieva improved to 12-3 overall and 4-0 in dual matches. She has not dropped a set in all 12 of her wins.
After Illinois won at No. 2 singles to make it 3-2, Lady Rebel junior Ilona Somers finished off the Illini's Brianna Knue in straight sets, 7-5, 6-3, to clinch the victory for the Lady Rebels.
The No. 6 match between Ole Miss' Renaudin and Illinois' Meza Cuadra split sets just after the Lady Rebels had clinched. Illinois won the match in a third set supertiebreaker to make it 4-3.
The Lady Rebels will return home next weekend for a pair of matches at the Palmer/Salloum Tennis Center. They will welcome Middle Tennessee Friday at 1 p.m. and then host South Alabama Sunday at Noon.
DOUBLES
#1 Harkins/Wang (ILL) def. Tomatis/Somers (OM) 9-8(4)
#2 Koukhartchouk/Tokarieva (OM) def. Knue/Qu (ILL) 8-1
#3 Subramanian/Renaudin (OM) def. Meza Cuadra/Dave' (ILL) 8-5
SINGLES
#1 Macall Harkins (ILL) def. Virginia Tomatis (OM) 6-3, 6-4
#2 Momei Qu (ILL) def. Nika Koukhartchouk (OM) 6-4, 6-3
#3 Ilona Somers (OM) def. Brianna Knue (ILL) 7-5, 6-3
#4 Kseniia Tokarieva (OM) def. Shivani Davé (ILL) 6-4, 6-0
#5 Preethi Subramanian (OM) def. Emily Wang (ILL) 6-2, 6-1
#6 Alejandra Meza Cuadra (ILL) def. Mimi Ranaudin (OM) def. 7-6(5), 1-6, 1-0(7)
