The University of Mississippi Athletics
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Alabama
No. 6 Alabama Holds off No. 16 Rebels
3/13/2015 | Women's Tennis
OXFORD, Miss. - In a battle between two top-20 teams, No. 6 Alabama built a 3-1 lead against the No. 16 Ole Miss women's tennis team, but the Rebels stayed in it until the Tide clinched it 6-3 in the third at No. 4 singles for the 4-1 win here Friday night at the Gillom Sports Center.
The Tide (12-2, 4-1) won the doubles point and two of the top three singles matches, before the clincher at No. 4 singles.
When the match was clinched, the Rebels (10-4, 2-3) were up a set and on serve in the second and down a set and in a second set tiebreaker at No. 5.
"We obviously had two great teams battling it out here tonight, it was a great tennis match," head coach Mark Beyers said. "We had a great crowd, great atmosphere, and the fans saw some high level tennis. Unfortunately, we came up a little short, but we learned that we can play with anyone. Alabama is one of the best teams in the country. If we can play at this level every time, then we are going to win a lot of tennis matches."
The match started with Alabama taking the doubles point with wins on courts one and three. The No. 1 team and defending NCAA Champions, Erin Routliffe and Maya Jansen handed Erin Stephens and Iris Verboven an 8-2 loss. The Tide clinched the point 8-1 at No. 3, while the Rebels led 6-2 at No. 2.
Freshman Arianne Hartono, ranked No. 50 in the nation and the current SEC Freshman of the Week, put up a double bagel against 54th-ranked Danielle Spielman to get the Rebels on the board.
"Arianne played an unbelievable match, because Spielmann is a great player," Beyers said. "Early on Arianne won a lot of close games and then she just got on a roll and kept hitting winners. The second set was high level tennis."
Alabama won the other two matches on courts one and three to build the 3-1 lead. Julia Jones, ranked No. 12, lost to 26th-ranked Routliffe 6-2, 6-3 at No. 1 and then Mai El Kamash fell to 48th-ranked Jansen 6-2, 6-3.
With Alabama leading 3-1, they would take the first sets on courts four and five, while Ole Miss won the first in a tiebreaker at No. 6.
After dropping the first set to Alabama senior Emily Zabor, 6-4, freshman Natalie Suk won the second 6-2. In the final set, she got broken serving 3-4 and Zabor served out for 6-3 to clinch the victory for her team.
The Rebels will welcome No. 31 Auburn Sunday for a 1 p.m. match that they hope will be there first outdoor home match of the season at the Palmer/Salloum Tennis Center.
"We have another big test ahead of us Sunday with Auburn," Beyers said. "They're going to come in here and try to beat us, so we need to step it up again. If we play like we did tonight I feel really good about our chances over the next few weeks, not just against Auburn."
For more information on Ole Miss Women's Tennis, follow the Rebels on Twitter, @OleMissWTennis, on Facebook atOleMissWTennis and on Instagram at OleMissWTennis.
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