The University of Mississippi Athletics
Women's Tennis Heads West For Pair Of Matches
2/9/2011 | Women's Tennis
Feb. 9, 2011
OXFORD, Miss. - The Ole Miss women's tennis team got out of Oxford ahead of the snow storm and headed west to Seattle for a pair of matches against The University of Washington and St. Mary's.
The Rebels, up to No. 16 in the nation this week, will face 23rd-ranked Washington Friday at 3 p.m. CT., followed by 41st-ranked St. Mary's College on Saturday at 3 p.m.
"We are excited to go play a good Pac-10 team," head coach Mark Beyers said. "It's good to measure yourself against some of the best teams from the other conferences. Playing at their place is going to be a tough match. They've already beaten Texas and Florida State this year so they're very good. We've had a great week of practice, and I'm confident that we'll play better than we did against SMU and Tennessee. Also, we've got another opportunity against St. Mary's, a team with a top 40 RPI. They have a win over TCU already. It will be two great matches on the road."
Ole Miss enters the weekend at 2-1 and coming off a loss to No. 11 Tennessee in their last match. The Rebels are led by junior Kristi Boxx, who is ranked No. 21 in the nation and already has a win over the No. 2 player in the nation this spring. A big boost for the Rebels has been the play of the freshmen, Caroline Rohde-Moe and Vivian Vlaar, who are a combined 6-0 in dual matches. Rohde-Moe clinched the win over SMU.
"They're doing great. They have not only provided us with wins, but good solid wins. We're hoping they can continue to do that," said Beyers speaking on his talented freshmen. "But it's been a team effort. We had Kristi step up and beat the No. 2 player in the nation, and Connor has some picked up some good wins. We're going to need that this weekend to come away with two wins."
Washington comes into the match with a 5-1 record. They are led by a pair of All-Americans, Denise Dy and Venise Chan, at the top of their lineup. This will be the first meeting between the two schools.
"They've got two of the top players in the country. Denise Dy and Venise Chan have been both ranked in the top 10 in the country. When you have that one-two punch it's tough. They feel like that's almost two automatic points for them. We feel like we have the personnel to counter and hopefully we can get one or two wins at those positions," Beyers said.
St. Mary's enters the weekend with a 2-3 record. They are led by Alex Poorta who is ranked No. 85 in the country with a 2-3 record at No. 1 singles. The Gaels won the West Coast Conference last year and participated in the NCAA Championships for the first time ever.
Live scoring and video of Friday's match against Washington will be available by going to www.OleMissSports.com and clicking on the link in the calendar.
