The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss
Vanderbilt
No. 16 Rebels Defeat No. 23 Vanderbilt 5-2
4/6/2012 | Women's Tennis
April 6, 2012
OXFORD, Miss. - The No. 16 nationally ranked Ole Miss women's tennis took care of business Friday in their continued quest to earn a top four seed in the SEC Tournament as well as host an NCAA Regional, by defeating No. 23 Vanderbilt 5-2 at the Palmer/Salloum Tennis Center/Galtney Courts.
With the win, the Rebels improved to 14-7 overall and 6-3 in the SEC. They gained sole possession of fourth overall.
The Rebels will host Kentucky Sunday at 1 p.m. on Senior Day to close out the regular season home schedule. The first 200 fans will receive a collector's poster of senior Gabby Rangel. The Rebels will honor their three seniors prior to the start of the match.
Ole Miss won a huge doubles point against Vanderbilt to take the early 1-0 lead. Vanderbilt took the No. 2 match 8-6, and then Julia Jones and Iris Verboven won 8-5 at No. 3 doubles. It came down to No. 1 between the sixth-ranked duo of Kristi Boxx and Abby Guthrie against 27th-ranked Jackie Wu and Lauren Mira. Boxx and Guthrie were able to break to win it 8-6 and improve to 8-1 in the SEC.
With the doubles point in hand, the Rebels won four first sets. First off the court, sophomore Vivian Vlaar downed VU's Megan Gornet 6-2, 6-0 at No. 6 to make it 2-0 Rebels.
Guthrie put the Rebels within one of winning, coming back to defeat Nelly Radeva at No. 5 singles. Guthrie got off to a slow start dropping the first set 6-3, but bounced back to win the final two sets 6-1, 6-0.
Vanderbilt got on the board when Mira defeated sophomore Caroline Rohde-Moe 6-2, 6-3 at No. 2 singles to make it 3-1 Rebels.
With Ole Miss needing just one more point to clinch, Boxx, ranked No. 12 in the nation, finished off a straight set win against 34th-ranked Wu at No. 1 singles. Boxx won a huge first set 7-5 and then raced out to a 5-2 lead in the second. Wu came back to make it 5-4, but Boxx finally held to clinch and improve to 7-1 in the SEC.
Jones got the final point for the Rebels, winning in three sets at No. 4 singles.
Admission to all home matches is free, and with no concessions, fans may bring their own food and drink.
Follow the Rebels on twitter at @OleMissWTennis and on facebook at www.facebook.com/OleMissWTennis.
