The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss
Rice
No. 24 Rebels Defeat Rice 5-2
2/7/2015 | Women's Tennis
LUBBOCK, Texas - Less than 24 hours after a win over Texas Tech, the No. 24 ranked Ole Miss women's tennis team took to the courts at the McLeod Tennis Center to face another top RPI team in No. 32 Rice. Mission accomplished, as the Rebels claimed the doubles point and four singles on their way to a 5-2 win to conclude the road trip.
The Rebels improved to 6-1 on the year as they return home for the next two weekends.
"We are proud of the girls for going 2-0 on this road trip," head coach Mark Beyers said. "As I've said before, this is not an easy place to play, and it was very windy today. We are excited to be 6-1 and have two top-35 RPI wins on our resume. Now we get to play some home matches."
At No. 3 doubles Mai El Kamash teamed up with sophomore Zalina Khairudinova to post a 6-4 win to clinch the opening point and the early momentum for the Rebels.
The Rebels kept the momentum going as they won four first sets, including Khairudinova, who dominated Stephanie Nguyen 6-2, 6-0 at No. 6 singles as Ole Miss went up 2-0. Senior Erin Stephens, who clinched Friday's win against Texas Tech, topped Solomiya Zinko at No. 5 singles 6-4, 6-2 to increase the lead to 3-0.
Rice got on the board, when Savannah Durkin handed senior Iris Verboven a 6-3, 6-3 loss at No. 4 singles.
The Rebels' other freshman, Natalie Suk, finished 2-0 on the day. After teaming with senior Julia Jones to win 6-1 at No. 2 doubles, Suk defeated Rice's Alison Ho 7-5, 6-3 at No. 3 singles to clinch the Rebel victory.
Once the match was clinched, the two teams elected to finish the remaining matches, allowing 20th-ranked Jones to finish off a big win over 24th-ranked Natalie Beazant 6-2, 2-6, 7-5. Jones improved to 17-3 overall, 7-0 at No. 1 singles and earned her 10th ranked win of the year.
"Another great win for Julia, beating a highly ranked player in Beazant," Beyers said. "She is having a great senior year, and hopefully she can continue to have success accomplish a lot of great things."
Ole Miss returns home to host Tulane Feb. 13 at 2 p.m. followed by William & Mary Feb. 15 at Noon.
For more information on Ole Miss Women's Tennis, follow the Rebels on Twitter at @OleMissWTennis, on Facebook at OleMissWTennis and on Instagram at OleMissWTennis.
Players Mentioned
