Lady Rebel Freshman Serves Notice At All-American

LOS ANGELES Kristi Boxx of the Ole Miss women’s tennis team served notice this week in California, that she will be one of the top freshmen in the SEC and the nation, just missing out on advancing to the main draw at the Riviera All-American Championships Wednesday at the Riviera Country Club.

Boxx, a native of Grenada, Miss., won three rounds in prequalifying to advance to the qualifying tournament.  In the first round of qualifying, she defeated 63rd-ranked Yevgeniya Stupak of East Tennessee State 7-6(3), 7-5 and then downed 57^th-ranked Christy Striplin of Georgia Tech 6-3, 6-1 in the second round.

In the final round of qualifying, Boxx faced one of the nation’s top players and last year’s SEC Freshman of the Year, Julia Cohen, and took her to the wire before falling in three sets.  Boxx won the first set 7-5, and then Cohen, who transferred from Florida to Miami this fall, took the second 6-3.  The two battled in the third set with Cohen, ranked No. 25 in the country, finally winning 6-4 to advance. 

“Kristi had a great tournament in her first major championship of her collegiate career,” head coach Mark Beyers said.  “She beat two really good players today and then took one of the top players in the nation to 6-4 in the third.  Kristi is off to a great start this year, and she has a bright future here.”

Boxx improved to 8-1 on the year and will make her home debut next weekend as the Lady Rebels host the Ole Miss Fall Classic Oct. 10-12 at the Palmer/Salloum Tennis Center.

RIVIERA ITA ALL-AMERICAN LOS ANGELES

QUALIFYING SINGLES

First round -- Kristi Boxx (OM) def. Yevgeniya Stupak (ETSU) 7-6(3), 7-5.  Second round -- Boxx (OM) def. Christy Striplin (GT) 6-3, 6-1.  Third round Julia Cohen (UM) def. Boxx (OM) 5-7, 6-3, 6-4.

The University of Mississippi Athletics

Related News

Related Videos