The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss
South Carolina
Women's Tennis Falls To South Carolina 4-3
3/27/2010 | Women's Tennis
OXFORD, Miss. -- The Ole Miss women's tennis team lost the doubles point for just the second time this season, and it proved to be the difference, as No. 20 South Carolina survived a rally by the Rebels to win 4-3 here Friday at the Palmer/Salloum Tennis Center.
With the loss, Ole Miss falls to 9-3 overall and 3-2 in the SEC, as they travel to face No. 4 Florida Sunday in Gainesville. South Carolina improves to 4-1 in the SEC and 11-4 overall.
Like so many matches in the SEC, it came down to the final match on court two between Rebel Karen Nijssen and Gamecock Dijana Stojic. The first two sets were very close, with Stojic grabbing the first one 6-4 and Nijssen holding serve to clinch the second one 7-5. Nijssen was able to break in the first game of the third set, but Stojic won six straight games to clinch the 4-3 victory.
"We put ourselves in a position to win even after losing the doubles point. I felt like we gave away the doubles point," head coach Mark Beyers said. "It comes back to haunt you. In the end we came back and made it an amazing match, but the doubles point hurts. It's extremely disappointing."
The Rebels came into the match sporting a 26-4 record between all three doubles' teams. Abby Guthrie and Laura van de Stroet got their 10th win and remained undefeated in the SEC with an 8-2 win at No. 3. But South Carolina handed the No. 12 ranked duo of Kristi Boxx and Karen Nijssen an 8-5 loss at No. 1, their first in league play. After getting down early, Connor Vogel and Gabby Rangel rallied to make it interesting at No. 2 doubles, before the USC duo of Rita Maisak and Miki Jocic held on to win 8-6 for the 1-0 lead.
Things looked even bleaker for the Rebels as they quickly fell behind in singles, losing four of the first six sets. After Gamecock Ana Zubori handed Boxx a 6-2, 6-3 loss at No. 1 to make it 2-0 South Carolina, the Rebels began their comeback.
Rangel pulled out her first set against USC's Maisak in a tiebreak 7-6(5), and then dominated the second 6-1 to put the Rebels on the board. Vogel evened the match with her straight set 6-3, 6-3 win over Gamecock Adriana Pereria at No. 4 singles.
South Carolina regained the lead when Anya Morgina held off a furious rally by Guthrie in the second set to take the match 6-1, 7-6(5) on court three.
Moments later, van de Stroet tied things up with an impressive comeback at No. 5. After getting off to a great start in her match, she would wind up losing the first set 7-5. van de Stroet rallied to win the second 6-2 and cruised 6-0 in the third, setting up the final outcome on court two.
"We did a good job of coming back and turning around some singles matches," Beyers added. "Laura came back and turned her match around. Gabby had a close first set and then ran away with it. If you just get beat by a better team, then that's one thing, but we had a lot of opportunities that we didn't capitalize on. That doubles point definitely hurts. But then it comes down to one set, and I have to give Stojic some credit. She played a good third set."
Sunday's match at Florida has been moved up to 9 a.m. CT due to expected inclement weather. Fans can follow the match by going to www.OleMissSports.com and clicking on the live scoring link in the Rebel Hub.
#20 South Carolina 4
#28 Ole Miss 3
DOUBLES
1. Zubori/Stojic (USC) def. Boxx/Nijssen (OM) 8-5
2. Maisak/Jocic (USC) def. Vogel/Rangel (OM) 8-6
3. Guthrie/van de Stroet (OM) def. Morgina/Pereria (USC) 8-2
Order of Finish: 3, 1, 2
SINGLES
1. Ana Zubori (USC) def. Kristi Boxx (OM) 6-2, 6-3
2. Dijana Stojic (USC) def. Karen Nijssen (OM) 6-4, 5-7, 6-1
3. Anya Morgina (USC) def. Abby Guthrie (OM) 6-1, 7-6(5)
4. Connor Vogel (OM) def. Adriana Pereria (USC) 6-3, 6-3
5. Laura van de Stroet (OM) def. Miki Jocic (USC) 5-7, 6-2, 6-0
6. Gabby Rangel (OM) def. Rita Maisak (USC) 7-6, 6-1
Order of Finish: 1, 6, 4, 3, 5, 2
