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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss
Kentucky
No. 15 Rebels Drop Tight Match at No. 25 Kentucky
2/27/2015 | Women's Tennis
LEXINGTON, Ky. - In their Southeastern Conference opener, the No. 15 ranked Ole Miss women's tennis team dropped a tight 4-3 match to No. 25 Kentucky Friday at the Boone Tennis Complex. The match was played indoors.
Since the NCAA declared that the NCAA Championships would be played using last year's scoring format, the women's SEC coaches voted to go back to that format for league matches, which includes 8-game pro sets for doubles.
The Rebels started in a hole, as the Wildcats claimed the doubles point with an 8-3 win at No. 1 and an 8-4 win at No. 3.
Freshman Arianne Hartono, ranked No. 43, put the Rebels on the board, downing Aldila Sutjiadi 6-1, 6-2 at No. 2 singles.
Kentucky gained a 3-1 lead, as Kesley Dieters handed freshman Natalie Suk a 6-2, 6-1 loss at No. 4 singles and Mami Adachi finished a close two-setter against Mai El Kamash, 6-4, 6-4 at No. 3 singles.
Senior Julia Jones, ranked No. 14 in the nation, continued her impressive season, winning a close first set (7-5) against 60th-ranked Nadia Ravita, and then dominating the second 6-2 to get the Rebels within one, 3-2. Jones won her 93rd career match and improved to 9-1 at No. 1 singles. She is one win away from her 20th of the year.
Kentucky clinched the win when Taylor Lederman defeated senior Iris Verboven 6-2, 6-2 at No. 6 singles. Erin Stephens won her match at No. 5 singles for the final 4-3 score.
"We lost a tough decision to a very good Kentucky team," head coach Mark Beyers said. "We knew it would be a battle and it turned out to be exactly that. I felt we let a couple of matches slip away without being able to sink our teeth into those matches. We have to regroup and get ready for another battle Sunday."
The Rebels travel to Nashville to face No. 13 Vanderbilt Sunday at 1 p.m.
For more information on Ole Miss Women's Tennis, follow the Rebels on Twitter at @OleMissWTennis, on Facebook atOleMissWTennis and on Instagram at OleMissWTennis.
Players Mentioned
