The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss
South Carolina
Rebels Drop Close Match to No. 9 South Carolina
3/20/2016 | Women's Tennis
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OXFORD, Miss. - The Ole Miss women's tennis team battled No. 9 South Carolina down to the wire, before the Gamecocks finished off a 4-1 win Sunday at the Gillom Sports Center.
With cold temperatures, the match had to be played indoors on only three courts. South Carolina took the doubles point with a 6-1 win at No. 2 followed by a 6-3 win at No. 2. Ole Miss was leading 5-3 at three.
Ole Miss tied the match, when Arianne Hartono downed Caroline Dailey 6-3, 6-0 at No. 1 singles.
South Carolina regained the lead for good when Mai El Kamash lost to Paige Cline 6-3, 6-4 at No. 3 singles.
The Rebels had chances to get another win in the top three and give the bottom three more of an opportunity, as Natalie Suk led the final set 4-2 before her opponent, Ingrid Martins rallied to win it 2-6, 6-2, 6-4.
With the Gamecocks leading 3-1, the Rebels would need all three remaining courts. It looked as if they would get at least one of those when freshman Tea Jandric went up 5-2 in the third against Gamecock Hadley Berg. Berg however, rallied to win it 7-5 to clinch the win.
When play was stopped, Zalina Khairudinova led 3-1 in the final set at No. 5 singles and Marija Milutinovic was tied 2-2 in the second set down a set at six.
Notables…
• The Rebels are now 8-5 overall and 1-5 in the SEC. They travel to Alabama and No. 15 Auburn next weekend.
• The Rebels are a combined 20-10 at the top of the lineup.
• Arianne Hartono improved to 15-8 overall and 8-2 at No. 1 singles. She is now 2-2 in the SEC.
• Ole Miss has now played five top-20 teams in their first six SEC matches.
Quoting Head Coach Mark Beyers…
"It was a very close match. We definitely put ourselves in a position to win, but we have to figure out a way to get over the finish line. Credit to South Carolina for fighting back from some deficits in some third sets and coming away with some three-set wins. We are proud of the girls, most of the match, they fought their tails off. Unfortunately, you don't always get what you deserve."
On level of play…
"I thought from a ball-striking standpoint and energy-wise, this was a step up from last weekend and Friday. Now, we've got to be able to turn that into some wins. You would like to think that if you keep putting yourself in position to win, at some point it's going to change."
On bouncing back…
"We have to stay the course and learn from some of the things that we did well. From a team chemistry standpoint, a large part of this match was really good. People were feeding off each other, people were loud whether on the court or off it. We had good energy. Now, we have to be able to do that when we are behind."
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.
Players Mentioned
