The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss
Florida
Rebel Netters Fall To No. 1 Florida 7-0
3/25/2011 | Women's Tennis
March 25, 2011
OXFORD, Miss. - The No. 29 nationally ranked Ole Miss women's tennis team fought valiantly against No. 1 Florida here Friday at the Palmer/Salloum Tennis Center, but the Gators proved too much in a 7-0 win. The Rebels face South Carolina Sunday at 12 p.m. CT in Columbia.
With the loss, the Rebels fell to 8-6 overall and 1-4 in the SEC, while Florida improved to 16-1 and 5-0 in the SEC. The Gators have now 19 consecutive SEC regular season matches.
Florida took it to the Rebels in doubles to gain the early 1-0 lead, with an 8-0 win at No. 2 and an 8-4 win at No. 1. Ole Miss responded and came out with a lot more effort in singles, pushing Florida in several matches.
"I was very disappointed with the doubles. The energy wasn't any good. We didn't fight as hard. It was night and day difference with the singles," head coach Mark Beyers said. "We competed fantastic and probably deserved more than we got out there. I have to give Florida credit. There were some situations where we took it to them, and they could have folded. But they didn't. They kept coming back at us and were able to win some really close matches. That's why they're ranked No. 1."
Kristi Boxx returned to the singles lineup for the first time in a couple matches, but Allie Will, ranked No. 7 in the nation and last year's SEC Freshman of the Year, was too much in a 6-1, 6-2 win at No. 1 to make it 2-0 Gators.
Florida increased its lead to 3-0 when 45th-ranked Alex Cercone rallied to defeat Rebel freshman Vivian Vlaar 2-6, 6-2, 6-1 at No. 5 singles.
That's when things really started to get interesting. Ole Miss split sets at four and six and had a 4-1 lead in the second set at three after dropping a close tiebreaker in the first set. Momentum seemed to be shifting.
Senior Connor Vogel was trying to make a comeback in her match to last year's SEC Player of the Year, Lauren Embree, at No. 2 singles, to keep her team's chances alive. Vogel lost the first set, but at 4-5 in the second set, she got broke to give Embree the 6-3, 6-4 match-clinching win.
"It's definitely upsetting to see the scoreboard read 7-0, but it's also exciting to know that we can go out there and compete with them the way that we did," said Vogel, the reigning SEC Player of the Week. "What kept me going in my match was seeing that my teammates were fighting and that my match might actually matter. I knew I had to dig deep. I had chances against her, but some of those chances just didn't go my way. It's disappointing to lose, but it's also good to know that I can compete with the SEC Player of the Year."
Junior Abby Guthrie was up 3-1 in the third set at No. 4, against 26th-ranked Joanna Mather, but the Gator rallied to post a 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 win. Gabby Rangel, after losing her first set 6-4, rallied to win the second 6-4 against Olivia Janowicz. Janowicz claimed the third set 6-2. Freshman Caroline Rohde-Moe served for the first set at three against Gator freshman Sofie Oyen, but eventually lost it 7-6(5). She led the second 4-1 before Oyen won five straight games to take it 6-4 for the final point.
"The scoreboard doesn't really reflect how close this match was in singles. From the way we competed against the best team in the country, we can take a lot of positives from the match and hopefully be able to put that to good use in the next couple of weeks," Beyers said.
Sunday's match at South Carolina can be followed through live scoring at www.OleMissSports.com.
DOUBLES
1. Will-Cercone (UF) def. Boxx-Guthrie (OM) 8-4
2. Embree-Mather (UF) def. Vogel-Rangel (OM) 8-0
3. Rohde-Moe-Vlaar (OM) vs. Oyen-Hitimana (UF) 3-6, sus.
Order of Finish: 2, 1
SINGLES
1. Allie Will (UF) def. Kristi Boxx (OM) 6-1, 6-2
2. Lauren Embree (UF) def. Connor Vogel (OM) 6-3, 6-4
3. Sofie Oyen (UF) def. Caroline Rohde-Moe (OM) 7-6(5), 6-4
4. Joanna Mather (UF) def. Abby Guthrie (OM) 3-6, 6-3, 6-4
5. Alex Cercone (UF) def. Vivian Vlaar (OM) 2-6, 6-2, 6-1
6. Olivia Janowicz (UF) def. Gabby Rangel (OM) 6-4, 4-6, 6-2
Order of Finish: 1, 5, 2, 4, 6, 3
