The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss
ITA All-American Championships
Rebels Drop Opening Matches at Riviera All-American
10/5/2017 | Women's Tennis
Tournament Central
PACIFIC PALISADES, Calif. - It was a tough opening day at the Riviera/ITA All-American Championships for Arianne Hartono and Alexa Bortles of the Ole Miss women's tennis team as they lost their first-round matches in singles and doubles at the Riviera Country Club.
Top 20 match-up in singles…
In a battle of top 20 ranked players, Hartono, ranked No. 17, fell to No. 12 ranked Josie Kuhlman of Florida in two sets. Kuhlman gained control early in the first set on her way to winning it 6-2. The second set was much closer with Kuhlman closing it out 6-4. Hartono will face 35th-ranked Anastasia Rychagova of Kansas in consolation play Friday at 2:30 p.m. CT with still something to play for. The consolation winners also earn a bid to the ITA Fall Championships at Indian Wells.
Doubles goes to tiebreak…
After a first-round bye, sixth-seeded Hartono and Bortles faced the Syracuse team of Gabriela Knutson and Miranda Ramirez. The match went to a tiebreak and Knutson and Ramirez pulled away for the win 8-7(2). Hartono and Bortles will face the winner of the match between Emily Metcalf-Davina Nguyen (Michigan State) and Morgan Coppac-Elena Christofi (Georgia) match Saturday.
Quoting head coach Mark Beyers…
"Tough day today. We didn't play particularly poorly, but we weren't able to come up with a whole lot of big points. These are the type of matches we need though, to make us better. I liked the effort and intensity, now it's just a matter of getting a little better with our execution."
For more information on Ole Miss Women's Tennis, follow the Rebels on Twitter at @OleMissWTennis, on Facebook at OleMissWTennisand on Instagram at OleMissWTennis. Also follow Coach Beyers on Twitter, @MarkBeyers.
Players Mentioned
