The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss
ITA Regional Championships
Championship Monday for Rebels at ITA Regionals
10/23/2017 | Women's Tennis
AUBURN, Ala. â€" It was a championship start to the week for the Ole Miss women's tennis team, as Arianne Hartono captured the ITA Southern Regional Singles title and Natalie Suk and Sabina Machalova won an all-Ole Miss doubles final.
This marks the first time since 1997, the Rebels have captured both the singles and doubles titles in the same year at the ITA Regionals.
All three will now represent the Rebels at the Oracle/ITA Fall Championships in Indian Wells, California next week. The event begins Nov. 1 and concludes Nov. 5 with the finals.
Hartono dominates regional…
Senior Arianne Hartono didn't just win the regional title, she dominated from start to finish. The All-American did not drop a set on her way to the title including a 6-1, 6-4 win against Taylor Russo of Auburn in the title match.
At the net with Hartono…
"It feels great. Coming in as the top seed, it's hard to play with such high expectations from other people. To be able to overcome that feels great. To be able to play my best tennis at such a high level is great as well. A tournament is just hard, because you play so many matches in a row, so it's hard to maintain a high level. I'm glad I was able to do that this weekend."
Suk/Machalova take doubles…
Senior Natalie Suk and freshman Sabina Machalova defeated teammates Arianne Hartono and Alexa Bortles, who were the top seeds and are ranked No. 6 in the nation, 6-1, 7-6, to win their first title together. They almost didn't get out of the first round of doubles, surviving two match points to escape with a win in a tiebreaker.
At the net with head coach Mark Beyers…
"To win both titles at this event is impressive, especially with five SEC teams there and a bunch of mid-majors from the states of Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi. To have at least one singles player and one doubles team in the inaugural ITA Fall Championships is fantastic."
On Arianne's win…
"The way that Arianne won the title was very impressive, not dropping a set. The level of tennis was really amazing. I happy for her, because she's put in a lot of work. It didn't happen for her at the All-American, even though she had worked really hard in practice. She wasn't able to get the wins there, so for to do this is great to see. She's a great player with a tremendous work ethic. We are looking forward to having her play the same level of tennis out in Indian Wells."
On the all-Ole Miss doubles final…
"It makes it easier for us, because we don't have to coach. We didn't play great the first day in doubles, but we got better with each match. That was fun to see. Yesterday we beat LSU in both matches and those teams are good. We were able to take it to them and the outcome was never really in doubt."
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
