OXFORD, Miss. The No. 25 nationally ranked Ole Miss women’s tennis team will conclude the regular season Saturday at home against Mississippi State. The arch-rivals will face off at Noon at the Palmer/Salloum Tennis Center on Senior Day.
Admission is free, and fans will enjoy free hot dogs compliments of Kroger. The Rebels will honor senior Mimi Renaudin, who will be playing her final home match.
“Any time you play Mississippi State you can throw the records out,” head coach Mark Beyers said. “They’re going to come in here ready to play. They’re coming off a great win over No. 16 LSU and they need this match for them to get in the NCAAs. We want to finish the regular season on a high note. We broke into the Top 25 this week, and we want to go in to the SEC Tournament with some confidence.”
The Rebels come into the final regular season match at 11-8 overall, 4-6 in the SEC. They are coming off a split of last weekend’s matches, defeating No.16 LSU before falling to No. 14 Arkansas.
Ole Miss has won 19 in a row against Mississippi State, and Renaudin says the younger players know what it means.
“Kristi understands it, because obviously she grew up in Mississippi,” Renaudin said. “Gabby understands it, because she’s a huge SEC fan all the way around. Everybody kind of gets it, but we’ve harped on it the last few weeks. We don’t want to lose to Mississippi State.”
To put the streak into perspective, the last time the Rebels lost to Mississippi State (1989), the Rebels’ three freshmen were not even born.
Mississippi State freshman Olesya Tsigvintseva was named the SEC Freshman of the Week, as she was instrumental in the Lady Bulldogs’ 4-3 come-from-behind upset of 16th-ranked LSU on Sunday. The Lady Bulldog’s are 10-8 overall and 1-8 in the SEC.
