The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss
South Carolina - SEC Championship
Ole Miss Falls to South Carolina in SEC Championship
4/21/2016 | Women's Tennis
BATON ROUGE, La. - The Ole Miss women's tennis team battled, but dropped a 4-0 match to fifth-seed and 11th-ranked South Carolina Thursday in the second round of the SEC Championship at the LSU Tennis Complex.
The Rebels conclude the regular season at 13-11, while South Carolina (18-6) advances to the quarterfinals to face Auburn.
South Carolina won 6-2 at No. 2 doubles and 6-3 at No. 3 to take the early 1-0 lead. The Rebels were in the singles early on, but South Carolina pulled away and earned straight sets wins on courts one, four and five to close out the Rebels.
Natalie Suk, who clinched the 4-3 win vs. Tennessee in the first round, led 80th-ranked Ingrid Martins 7-6, 3-2 at No. 2 singles when play was stopped. Senior Mai El Kamash had just split sets at No. 3, winning the second set 6-4.
Notables…
• Freshman Brooke Stevens played her first SEC singles match, coming in at No. 6 singles. She played No. 2 doubles with Natalie Suk both days.
• Arianne Hartono finished the regular season at 20-13 overall, 13-7 at No. 1 singles.
Quoting Head coach Mark Beyers…
"We battled hard against a very good South Carolina team, but were unable to convert on a opportunities to win a few first sets. We'll find out on May 3 whether our resume is good enough to earn an at-large spot in the NCAA Championships. It's going to be close, we are definitely on the bubble."
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
