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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss
Virginia - ITA Kick-Off Weekend
Rebels Knock off Host Virginia at ITA Kick-Off
1/28/2017 | Women's Tennis
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. - Ole Miss women's tennis became the first team to knock out a host school in the first round of the ITA Kick-Off, taking out Virginia 4-3 Saturday at the Boar's Head Sports Club.
With the win, the Rebels advanced to the championship match where they will face No. 19 LSU to advance to the National Team Indoor.
The match came down to a couple of three-setters at the top spot and at No. 6 singles, and the Rebels won both for the win.
Ole Miss took the early lead by winning the doubles point. Zalina Khairudinova and Tea Jandric won 6-3 at No. 3 and then Arianne Hartono and Anna Vrbenska won 6-2 at No. 1 to give the Rebels a 1-0 lead.
Jandric put Ole Miss up 2-0 with a dominating 6-1, 6-0 win against Camille Favero at No. 5 singles.
Virginia erased the lead by taking straight set wins in the heart of the lineup at two, three and four leaving Hartono and freshman Alexa Bortles to finish the job.
Junior All-American Hartono's match against UVA's Cassie Mercer, was a tale of two sets until the third. Hartono cruised 6-0 in the first and then Mercer rebounded to win the second 6-1. The third set went to a deciding tiebreaker with the Rebels needing it to stay alive. Hartono had a 4-2 lead, but then Mercer won three of the next four points for 5-5. Hartono won the final two points for 7-6(5) to even the overall score 3-3.
That left a pair of freshmen on court six to decide the winner. After dropping the first set to Virginia's Hunter Bleser 6-4, Bortles rallied to win the second set 6-2 to send the match to a third. Bortles jumped out to a 5-2 lead before Bleser broke and held to force Bortles to serve for it again. This time, the Georgia native came through for 6-4 and the win.
At the net...
• The Rebels improved to 3-0 on the year
• The Rebels improved to 3-1 all-time against Virginia
• It marks the second straight match for one of the freshman to clinch
• Arianne Hartono improved to 7-4
• Alexa Bortles is now 3-0 on the season
• Zalina Khairudinova and Tea Jandric improved to 7-3 overall and 3-0 at No. 3 doubles
Complete results
Doubles
1. Hartono/Vrbenska (OM) def. Gullickson/Mercer (UVA) 6-2
2. Bortles/ Suk (OM) vs. Johanson/Kelley (UVA) 3-5, sus.
3. Khairudinova/Jandric (OM) vs. Bleser/Favero (UVA) 6-3
Order of Finish: 3, 1
Singles
1. #31 Arianne Hartono (OM) vs. Cassie Mercer (UVA) 6-0, 1-6, 7-6(5)
2. Rosie Johanson (UVA) def. Natalie Suk (OM) 6-2, 6-1
3. Meghan Kelley (UVA) def. Anna Vrbenska (OM) 7-6(5), 6-0
4. Chloe Gullickson (UVA) def. Zalina Khairudinova (OM) 6-4, 7-5
5. Tea Jandric (OM) def. Camille Favero (UVA) 6-1, 6-0
6. Alexa Bortles (OM) vs. Hunter Bleser (UVA) 3-6, 6-2, 6-4
Order of Finish: 5, 2, 3, 4, 1, 6
Thoughts from head coach Mark Beyers...
"This was a great back and forth battle. We played a very solid doubles point to take the 1-0 lead and then Tea got a quick `W' to put us up 2-0, but Virginia made us earn every single point. We were finally able to win some close third sets with Ari and Alexa. I still feel this team can play a lot better, but it's great to see we can also find a way to win when things aren't going perfectly."
Up next...
The Rebels will face No. 19 LSU Sunday at 12:30 p.m. CT for a chance to go to the National Team Indoor next month. The Tigers shut out Wake Forest 4-0 in the other first round match.
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.
Players Mentioned
