The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss
South Carolina
Women's Tennis Drops 4-3 Heartbreaker To South Carolina
3/5/2006 | Women's Tennis
March 5, 2006
OXFORD, Miss. - The No. 32 nationally ranked Ole Miss women's tennis team lost a 4-3 heartbreaker to No. 24 South Carolina Sunday afternoon at the Palmer/Salloum Tennis Center. With the loss, the Lady Rebels fell to 6-2 overall and 0-2 in the SEC, while South Carolina improved to 8-2 and 2-0 in league play.
For the second year in a row, the Lady Rebels lost to the Gamecocks by a score of 4-3. Last year, the Lady Rebels dropped three conference matches 4-3.
"We had a lot of opportunities in doubles to take the point," head coach Mark Beyers said. "In singles we also had chances in several matches to take those. I have to give South Carolina credit, they fought back. We have to do a better job of taking advantage of those opportunities when we have them. Good teams don't give you points and games."
The Lady Rebel duo of Nika Koukhartchouk and Kseniia Tokarieva improved to 7-1 at No. 2 doubles with an 8-3 win. The Lady Rebels led 4-1 at No. 1 doubles, but saw the Gamecocks come back to take the match 8-6. South Carolina had a commanding 6-2 lead on court three, but Ole Miss' Preethi Subramanian and Mimi Renaudin came all the way back to tie it. The Gamecock duo of Danielle Wiggins and Christyn Lucas won the final two games to clinch the point.
In singles, Ole Miss appeared to be in a good position in the match, winning four first sets. But, South Carolina would come back to win the second sets in three of those matches.
The Gamecocks went up 2-0 when 46th-ranked Gira Schofield handed Lady Rebel senior Virginia Tomatis a 7-6, 6-3 loss at No. 1 singles.
Junior Ilona Somers turned her match against Natasa Vuckovic around to give the Lady Rebels their first point. Down, 5-2 in the first set, Somers won five of six games to win it 7-6 and then used that momentum to claim the second 6-0.
South Carolina gained a 3-1 advantage when Lucas finished off Subramanian on court six, 6-4, 7-5. But, the Lady Rebels did not cave in, battling back to win third sets on courts three and four.
Koukhartchouk won her first set against USC's Wiggins, 6-3, but lost the second 6-3. She broke to start the third set, and held to win 6-4 and pull the Lady Rebels to within 3-2.
Tokarieva had trouble with her opponent, Laura Ganzer, but kept her focus and was able to battle the entire match to come away with her eighth win in a row. She trailed 4-1 in the first set and then won five straight games to take the set. Ganzer jumped on Tokarieva early in the second and went on to win it 6-1. In the third set, Tokarieva raced out to a 3-0 lead and never relinquished it, as she won 6-3.
Moments before Tokarieva won however, South Carolina's Megan McGavock completed a three-set comeback win over Mimi Renaudin at No. 5 singles. After winning the first set 6-4, Renaudin dropped the second 6-3 and found herself down 5-1 in the third. But, she battled back and was serving to square the set, when McGavock broke to clinch the win for her team.
"We are close to being a really good team, we just have to take care of the opportunities when they arise," Beyers said. "There were some individual highlights this weekend. I am proud of Ilona for turning her match around. Kseniia and Nika lost their second sets, but they regained the momentum. We definitely saw some good things we can build on."
The Lady Rebels will try to get back on the winning track and earn their first conference victory when they travel to the state of Alabama next weekend to face Alabama and Auburn.
DOUBLES
#1 Schofield/Vuckovic (USC) def. Tomatis/Somers (OM) 8-6
#2 Koukhartchouk/Tokarieva (OM) def. Ganzer/McGavock (USC) 8-3
#3 Wiggins/Lucas (USC) def. Renaudin/Subramanian (OM) 8-6
SINGLES
#1 Gira Schofield (USC) def. Virginia Tomatis (OM) 7-6, 6-3
#2 Ilona Somers (OM) def. Natasa Vuckovic (USC) 7-6, 6-0
#3 Nika Koukhartchouk (OM) def. Danielle Wiggins (USC) 6-3, 3-6, 6-4
#4 Kseniia Tokarieva (OM) def. Laura Ganzer (USC) 6-4, 1-6, 6-3
#5 Megan McGavock (USC) def. Mimi Renaudin (OM) 4-6, 6-3, 6-4
#6 Christyn Lucas (USC) def. Preethi Subramanian (OM) 6-4, 7-5
