The University of Mississippi Athletics
No. 17 Rebels Ready for SEC Home Opener
3/4/2015 | Women's Tennis
OXFORD, Miss. -- Coming off two tough losses to kick off SEC play, the No. 17 ranked Ole Miss women's tennis team is looking to bounce back with a four-game stretch at home. This weekend, the Rebels will face Arkansas followed by Missouri.
The Rebels and the Razorbacks are set to square off at 3 p.m., Friday at the Gillom Sports Center. Sunday's match is set for 1 p.m., at the Palmer/Salloum Tennis Center.
Fans coming to Friday's match will get a poster of Mai El Kamash and the team's first trading card pack. At Sunday's match, fans will enjoy free pizza between doubles and singles.
SEC Opening Weekend ...
The Rebels dropped a tight 4-3 match to then No. 25 Kentucky last Friday. Senior Julia Jones, ranked No. 14 in the nation, won both of her matches and improved to 9-1 at No. 1 singles. She is only one win away from her 20th win of the year. The Rebels then traveled to Nashville Sunday to take on the No. 13 ranked Vanderbilt Commodores and dropped a 6-1 match. Natalie Suk picked up the lone win of the day for the Rebels, beating Frances Altick at No. 4 singles.
Coach Talk ...
"It's not the way we wanted to start, but that's on the road against two really good teams," head coach Mark Beyers said. "We've obviously shown that we are capable of playing really good tennis and we've beaten some really good teams. So we've got to come back and take care of business against Arkansas and Missouri."
Scouting Arkansas ...
Arkansas, ranked No. 50 in the nation, snapped a two match losing streak when they defeated Missouri 6-1 last weekend. The Razorbacks improved to 11-4 overall and 1-0 in SEC play. Arkansas is lead by sophomore Shannon Hudson and Junior Yuliya Lysa, who both picked up convincing wins.
Scouting Missouri ...
Missouri dropped a 6-2 contest to No. 50 Arkansas during their SEC opener. The Tigers are now 8-5 on the season and 0-1 in SEC play. They are lead by sophomore duos Brittany Lashway and Beatriz Machado Santos.
The 100 Watch ...
At 92 wins on the season, senior Julia Jones only needs eight more wins to join the elite 100-club. Jones would be the fifth player in program history to reach this milestone.
National Rankings ...
The Rebels are ranked No. 17 in the latest ITA National Rankings. In the singles rankings, senior Julia Jones is ranked No. 14 and freshman Arianne Hartono is ranked No. 43 and junior Mai El Kamash is ranked No. 109.
Live Coverage ...
If you live out of town and can't make it to the match, you can follow both the Arkansas match and the Missouri match with live scoring and on the live blog.
For more information on Ole Miss Women's Tennis, follow the Rebels on Twitter, @OleMissWTennis, on Facebook at OleMissWTennis and on Instagram at OleMissWTennis.
