The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss
Kentucky
Rebels Drop Heartbreaker to No. 23 Kentucky
3/31/2016 | Women's Tennis
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OXFORD, Miss. - Despite dropping the doubles point, the Ole Miss women's tennis team won the top three singles matches to secure a 3-1 lead against No. 23 Kentucky, but couldn't close the door, as the Wildcats rallied for a 4-3 win Thursday night at the Gillom Sports Center.
The match came down to No. 6 and a pair of seniors in Ole Miss' Marija Milutinovic and Kentucky's Kirsten Lewis. Milutinovic held a 5-2 lead in the first set, but Lewis rallied to take it 7-5. Milutnovic regrouped and won the second set 6-3 to force a winner-take-all third set. A quick break by Milutinovic to start the third set and the Rebels were in business. Milutinovic was serving 3-2, but got broken. Lewis held her serve and then broke again to serve for the match at 5-3. Milutinovic broke back at love but on her ensuing service game, could not hold, as Lewis clinched the 7-5, 3-6, 6-4 win and the team victory for Kentucky.
After dropping the doubles point and with just three indoor courts, the Rebels still managed to put themselves in a good position to win by taking all three top singles matches, two of which went three sets. Senior Mai El Kamash won her match in straight sets and then sophomore Arianne Hartono rallied to take her match 6-2 in the third for a 2-1 Rebel lead. Natalie Suk fought off a match point to win her match 7-6(4) in the third at No. 2 singles. Her opponent served for the match twice and held a match point serving at 5-4, but Suk won the point and ended up forcing the tiebreaker.
Notables…
• The Rebels are now 9-7 overall and 2-7 in the SEC.
• It marked the Rebels' fourth 4-3 match of the season. They are 1-3 in those.
• Arianne Hartono improved to 18-8 overall and 11-2 at No. 1 singles. She is now 5-2 in the SEC. Hartono also earned her seventh ranked win of the year.
• Mai El Kamash improved to 17-8 overall, 7-3 at No. 3 singles.
• Natalie Suk evened up her record at No. 2 singles to 6-6.
Next up…
Ole Miss welcomes the defending NCAA Champion, Vanderbilt, to the Palmer/Salloum Tennis Center Saturday at 1 p.m. It will be Senior Day, and the Rebels will celebrate seniors Mai El Kamash, Marija Milutnovic and Allie Robbins.
Quoting Head Coach Mark Beyers…
"Sports is really cruel sometimes, but we fought our tails off. It comes down to 6-4 in the third. Proud of the girls for the effort, we just came up short. It's unfortunate, but with only three indoor courts, it's hard to have a home court advantage when the match takes six hours. The people who were here saw a tremendous college tennis match."
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
