The University of Mississippi Athletics
Rebels Set to Kick off 2017 Season
1/13/2017 | Women's Tennis
OXFORD, Miss. - While most of the Ole Miss population enjoys the final couple of weeks of the semester break, the women's tennis team has been in California practicing for their season opener against UC Irvine Saturday. The Rebels and Anteaters will square off at 12 p.m. CT from Anteater Stadium.
Following the UC Irvine match the Rebels will head across the Pacific Ocean to the Aloha State, where they will face Hawaii Jan. 18.
"We are facing two good teams in UC Irvine and Hawaii," head coach Mark Beyers said. "They (Hawaii) have a really strong team, probably the best they've had in a long time. It should be a great test. We are excited to be on this trip. Any time we've done this trip, it's been good for multiple reasons. One, we've been able to get a lot of practice in and two, it's a great team-bonding trip and three we've been successful before and picked up some good wins.
"Hopefully we'll be able to come back on the 19th 2-0 and feeling like we got a lot accomplished from a tennis standpoint, from a team-bonding standpoint, so when we go to Virginia [for ITA Kickoff] we're ready to take on some Top 25 teams."
Scouting UC Irvine...
UC Irvine returns six letterwinners, while it also brings in six newcomers for the 2017 campaign. Interim head coach Elizabeth Ferris is in her first year at the helm of the program. She spent the last three seasons as an assistant under long-time UCI head coach Mike Edles. The Anteaters are led by Junior Vivien Dvali, who won eight matches at No. 2 in 2016.
Last meeting...
The two teams last met in the first round of the 2010 NCAA Tournament in Atlanta, Georgia with the Rebels winning 4-0 on their way to the Sweet Sixteen. The Rebels won at No. 1 and 3 doubles and then picked up singles wins at 3, 5 and 6 to clinch the victory.
Rebels in the preseason rankings...
Ole Miss is receiving votes in the first Oracle/ITA Top 25 Ranking of the year. Junior Arianne Hartono is ranked No. 31 in singles, while junior Natalie Suk and freshman Anna Vrbenska are No. 48 in doubles.
"It's a good start, and we're looking to see if we can move up," Beyers said. "We'll get plenty of opportunities with nine SEC teams in the Top 25, Virginia in there and Wake Forest receiving votes. I am really curious to see what this team can do, because we have a tremendous amount of talent. Our job as coaches and players is to turn that talent into a really good team."
All-American at the top...
The Rebels will be led by junior All-American Arianne Hartono this year. In her first year at No. 1 singles, Hartono finished 2016 13-7 at the top spot and earned All-SEC second team honors. She helped the Rebels earn their eighth straight NCAA appearance and advanced to the third round in singles to become the 12th All-American in program history.
"Arianne had a great year last year, but I know she wants to take it even further this year. We look forward to seeing her become that No. 1 player you can rely on every match."
Experience up and down the lineup...
The Rebels boast plenty of experience and depth up and down the lineup. Junior Natalie Suk, and senior Zalina Khairudinova will be relied on to provide leadership along with Hartono. Both players have been there and clinched big matches for the team. While only sophomores, Tea Jandric, Allie Sanford and Brooke Stevens all saw action as freshmen. Jandric posted a 15-11 overall record, 9-5 in dual matches.
"Having the depth we have is good," Beyers said. "We'll figure out our lineup over the next couple of weeks. Hopefully some of the girls will step up and claim some of those spots by playing really good tennis and practicing hard every day."
Freshmen set to make immediate impact...
Redshirt freshman Tereza Janatova returns after missing all of last year with a knee injury. Anna Vrbenska was here last fall and posted a 5-3 record in singles and doubles. The newest member of the team, Alexa Bortles, arrived nine days ago with a strong resumé.
"We are excited to add Alexa to the mix," Beyers said. "We were already a deep team and she will obviously help us tremendously. We're looking forward to seeing what she brings to the team."
For more information on Ole Miss Women's Tennis, follow the Rebels on Twitter at @OleMissWTennis, on Facebook at OleMissWTennis and on Instagram at OleMissWTennis. Also follow Coach Beyers on Twitter, @MarkBeyers.
