The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss
Vanderbilt
Women's Tennis Nets Historic Win Over Vanderbilt
3/6/2010 | Women's Tennis
OXFORD, Miss. - The Ole Miss women's tennis team defeated Vanderbilt 4-3 Friday at the Palmer/Salloum Tennis Center for its first win against the Commodores since 1999.
With the win, the Rebels improved to 6-1 overall and 1-0 to start SEC play. They will host Kentucky Sunday at Noon, and all fans will enjoy free hot dogs.
"It's very exciting (to get a win against Vanderbilt)," head coach Mark Beyers said. "They're a storied program, who has made the NCAA Finals before. It's a great win for us. The thing that is good is we beat the No. 19 team in the country, and we didn't play our best tennis."
The Rebels gained the early momentum by taking a close doubles point. After Ole Miss won at No. 3 doubles, Vanderbilt took the No. 2 match to set up the deciding outcome at No. 1. Kristi Boxx and Karen Nijssen were down a break, but they were able to break back and ultimately break the VU team of Rachel Dillon and Heather Steinbauer in the 14th game to win it 8-6 and clinch the point.
Vanderbilt (5-3, 0-1) tied the match when Hannah Blatt defeated sophomore Gabby Rangel 6-4, 6-0 at No. 6 singles. Shortly thereafter, junior Laura van de Stroet gave the Rebels a 2-1 lead and remained undefeated in dual matches with a 6-2, 6-4 win over Dillon on court five.
Rebel junior Connor Vogel downed Steinbauer 6-1, 6-3 at No. 3 singles to increase the lead to 3-1.
Vanderbilt pulled to within 3-2 when Catherine Newman defeated Kristi Boxx 6-3, 6-2 on court one.
In what proved to be the difference in the match, sophomore Abby Guthrie won a first set tiebreaker against VU's Keilly Ulery at No. 4 singles, which propelled her to a straight set win to clinch the team victory. Guthrie served for the first set twice and had plenty of set points, before finally winning the tiebreaker 7-6(8). With momentum on her side, she dominated the second set 6-0.
"I had so many set points, and I was getting frustrated," she said. "But then I pulled it together at the end and managed to win it. That gave me confidence for the second set. She seemed to get frustrated in the second set."
The Rebels will be looking to extend a two-match winning streak against the Wildcats on Sunday.
#38 Ole Miss 4
#19 Vanderbilt 3
DOUBLES
1. Boxx/Nijssen (OM) def. Dillon/Steinbauer (VU) 8-6
2. Robertson/Newman (VU) def. Vogel/Rangel (OM) 8-3
3. Guthrie/van de Stroet (OM) def. Preeg/Blatt (VU) 8-2
Order of Finish: 3, 2, 1
SINGLES
1. Catherine Newman (VU) def. Kristi Boxx (OM) 6-3, 6-2
2. Chelsea Preeg (VU) def. Karen Nijssen (OM) 6-3, 1-6, 7-5
3. Connor Vogel (OM) def. Heather Steinbauer (VU) 6-1, 6-3
4. Abby Guthrie (OM) def. Keilly Ulery (VU) 7-6(8), 6-0
5. Laura van de Stroet (OM) def. Rachael Dillon (VU) 6-2, 6-4
6. Hannah Blatt (VU) def. Gabby Rangel (OM) 6-4, 6-0
Order of Finish: 6, 5, 3, 1, 4, 2
