The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss
ITA Regional Championships
Rebels Roll On At ITA Southern Regional
10/24/2009 | Women's Tennis
AUBURN, Ala. -- The Ole Miss women's tennis team makes up half of the final eight in singles and three of the final four in doubles at the ITA Southern Regional Championships, after another excellent showing Saturday at the Yarbrough Tennis Center.
Sophomore Abigail Guthrie defeated Alabama senior Paulina Bigos 6-4, 7-5 in the third round after a straight set win over Mississippi State's Valeriya Mkarycheva in the second round. With the two wins, Guthrie remains undefeated (10-0) on the year.
Junior Karen Nijssen, after dropping the first set to LSU freshman Kaitlin Burns 6-4, stormed back to take the match 6-0, 6-1 to move into the quarterfinals. Earlier in the day, she dominated Tulane's Hila Eilister 6-0, 6-1.
Connor Vogel improved to 10-2 on the year with two straight set wins. In the second round, the Germantown, Tenn., native defeated Paula Alvarez of UAB 6-1, 6-1 before taking out Alabama freshman Alexa Guarachi 6-2, 6-4 in the third round.
Grenada, Miss., native Kristi Boxx came back to defeat Mariam Kurdadze of Tulane 1-6, 6-2, 6-1 in the third round after a 6-3, 7-6(1) win over Alabama's Alice Tunaru.
In doubles, the ninth-ranked duo of Boxx and Nijssen downed Lindsey Dvorak and Emma Helisten of Tulane 8-2. Teammates Soledad Podlipnik and Guthrie edged UA's Paulina Bigos and Taylor Lindsey 8-6, and Vogel and Gabriela Rangel topped Nicole Kantor and Whitney Wolf of LSU 8-4.
"We had a really good day today," head coach Mark Beyers said. "To have half of the quarterfinalists in singles and three of the four semifinalists in doubles is great. We beat several players from Alabama and LSU. Hopefully we can get some more wins tomorrow and give ourselves a chance to play for the titles and a spot in the National Indoor."
The winners of the singles and doubles as well as the singles finalist earn a spot in the ITA National Indoor in November.
Play begins Sunday at 9 a.m. with the doubles semifinals followed by both the quarterfinals and semifinals of singles.
ITA SOUTHERN REGIONAL -- AUBURN, Ala.
SINGLES
Second round -- Abigail Guthrie (OM) def. Valeriya Makarycheva (MSU) 6-1, 6-0; Karen Nijssen (OM) def. Hila Elister (Tulane) 6-0, 6-1; Connor Vogel (OM) def. Paula Alvarez (UAB) 6-1, 6-1; Gabriela Rangel (OM) def. Emma Helisten (Tulane) 7-6(4), 7-6 (4); Kristi Boxx (OM) def. Alice Tunaru (UA) 6-3, 7-6(1).
Third round -- Guthrie (OM) def. Paulina Bigos (UA) 6-4, 7-5; Njissen (OM) def. Kaitlin Burns (LSU) 4-6, 6-0, 6-1; Vogel (OM) def. Alexa Guarachi (UA) 6-2, 6-4; Whitney Wolf (LSU) def. Rangel (OM) 7-6(4), 2-6, 6-4; Boxx (OM) def. Mariam Kurdadze (Tulane) 2-6, 6-2, 6-1.
DOUBLES
Quarterfinals -- Boxx/Njissen (OM) def. Lindsey Dvorak/Emma Helisten (Tulane) 8-2; Podlipnik/Guthrie (OM) def. Paulina Bigos/Taylor Lindsey (UA) 8-6; Vogel/Rangel (OM) def. Nicole Kantor/Whitney Wolf (LSU) 8-4.
