The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss
Purdue
No. 25 Rebels Top Purdue 5-2
2/5/2016 | Women's Tennis
Complete Results | Photo Gallery 
OXFORD, Miss. - After dropping the doubles point for the second straight match, the No. 25 Ole Miss women's tennis team rallied to post straight set wins at the top three singles spots to build a 3-1 lead against No. 45 Purdue, before senior Marija Milutinovic closed out the 5-2 win at Friday at the Gillom Sports Center.
With the win, the Rebels improved to 4-0, while Purdue dropped to 5-4.
Despite a win from the 47th-ranked duo of Mai El Kamash and Arianne Hartono at No. 1 doubles, Purdue claimed a 6-3 win at No. 2 and closed out the point with a 7-5 win at No. 3 doubles.
El Kamash, ranked No. 55, put the Rebels on the board with a 6-0, 6-4 win at No. 3 singles against Krisztina Kapitany and then Natalie Suk finished off Nicole Robinson 6-4, 6-1 at No. 2 singles to make it 2-1 Rebels. Hartono, ranked No. 84, finished off Andjela Djokovic 6-3, 6-3 at No. 1 singles to give Ole Miss the 3-1 lead.
With the Rebels needing just one more match to clinch the win, Milutinovic, freshman Tea Jandric and junior Zalina Khairudinova took to the court to try and close it out. All three won their first sets. It was a race to the finish to see who would win their second set and deliver the final blow. Milutinovic proved up to the task yet again, rallying from 2-4 down in the second set to close out Purdue freshman Marta Ruedas-Burgos 6-4, 6-4 at No. 6 singles. Jandric followed closely behind with a 6-4, 6-3 win at No. 4 singles to make it 5-1, before Purdue won the final match in a supertiebreaker at No. 5 singles.
Notables…
• This marked the first ever meeting between the two schools
• The Rebels are a combined 8-1 at the top three spots in the lineup
• This was the second ranked opponent the Rebels have played this season
• The Rebels improved to 60-26 at home dating back to the 2009 season
Quoting Head Coach Mark Beyers…
"We did alright at times, but I believe we can play better. Overall it's a solid 5-2 victory against an NCAA team. They were a very good test for us. They pushed us and we were able to come away with the victory."
On rebounding from the doubles loss…
"We don't want to have to rely on coming back in singles all the time. We can play better in doubles, and I know that we will play better in doubles. Today we did a great job of changing the momentum after doubles, but we shouldn't be in that position. Credit Purdue, they were more aggressive and they deserve to get that point."
On the quick turnaround for the next match…
"We'll see how we rebound physically, but we'll be facing another good team who will come in here and try to knock us off. If we're not ready then anything can happen. If we are focused from beginning to end, then I am confident we can take care of business."
Next Up…
The Rebels welcome Memphis to the Gillom Sports Center Saturday for a Noon match. Fans will receive a souvenir poster of senior Mai El Kamash.
For more information on Ole Miss Women's Tennis, follow the Rebels on Twitter @OleMissWTennis, on Facebook at OleMissWTennis and on Instagram at OleMissWTennis. Also follow Coach Beyers on Twitter, @MarkBeyers.
#25 Ole Miss 5, #45 Purdue 2
Doubles
1. #47 El Kamash/Hartono (OM) def. Djokovic/Robinson (PUR) 6-4
2. Kapitany/Ruedas-Burgos (PUR) def. Suk/Sanford (OM) 6-3
3. Escribens/Davila (PUR) def. Khairudinova/Jandric (OM) 7-5
Order of Finish: 2, 1, 3
Singles
1. #84 Arianne Hartono (OM) def. Andjela Djokovic (PUR) 6-3, 6-3
2. Natalie Suk (OM) def. Nicole Robinson (PUR) 6-4, 6-1
3. #55 Mai El Kamash (OM) def. Krisztina Kapitany (PUR) 6-0, 6-4
4. #44 Tea Jandric (OM) def. Natalia Davila (PUR) 6-4, 6-3
5. Claudia Escribens (PUR) def. Zalina Khairudinova (OM) 3-6, 7-6 (7-3), 10-4
6. Marija Milutinovic (OM) def. Marta Ruedas-Burgos (PUR) 6-4, 6-4
Order of Finish: 3, 2, 1, 6, 4, 5
