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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss
Memphis
No. 17 Women's Tennis Shuts Out Memphis
2/25/2017 | Women's Tennis
OXFORD, Miss. â€" In their final non-conference match of the year, the No. 17 Ole Miss women's tennis team shut out Memphis 4-0 Saturday at the Palmer/Salloum Tennis Center.
The Rebels cruised in doubles not dropping a game at the top two spots to take the early 1-0 lead.
In singles, the Rebels won five first sets and never let Memphis get into the match, especially on courts two, three and four where they earned quick wins to finish off the Tigers.
After a dominating doubles performance at No.2, junior Natalie Suk downed Memphis' Hannah Sohn 6-2, 6-1 at No. 2 singles to make it 2-0.
Freshman Anna Vrbenska was also part of a shutout at No. 1 doubles and then wasted little time taking care of Gabrielle Paul 6-2, 6-0 to increase the lead to 3-0.
Senior Zalina Khairudinova closed out the Tigers' Marta Morga 6-1, 6-1 at No. 4 singles and the Rebels third straight win.
At the net…
• The Rebels improved to 9-2 on the year
• This marked the sixth shutout of the year for the Rebels
• The Rebels improved to 25-3 all-time against Memphis
• The Rebels have won the doubles point in nine of 11 matches
• Freshman Anna Vrbenska improved to 10-6 overall, 5-3 in dual matches
• Senior Zalina Khairudinova improved to 11-6 overall, 5-3 in dual matches
• Arianne Hartono and Vrbenska improved to 6-2 at No. 1 doubles, while Natalie Suk and Alexa Bortles moved to 5-2.
Complete results
Doubles
1. Hartono/Vrbenska (OM) def. Wind/K. Cao (UM) 6-0
2. Suk/Bortles (OM) def. Paul/J. Cao (UM) 6-0
3. Khairudinova/Jandric (OM) vs. Sohn/Morga (UM) 3-3, sus.
Order of Finish: 2, 1
Singles
1. #35 Arianne Hartono (OM) vs. Anki Wind (UM) 6-2, 3-4, sus.
2. Natalie Suk (OM) def. Hanna Sohn (UM) 6-2, 6-1
3. Anna Vrbenska (OM) def. Gabrielle Paul (UM) 6-2, 6-0
4. Zalina Khairudinova (OM) def. Marta Morga (UM) 6-1, 6-1
5. Tea Jandric (OM) vs. Katherine Cao (UM) 6-3, 3-0, sus.
6. #115 Alexa Bortles (OM) vs. Josephine Cao (UM) 4-6, 2-1, sus.
Order of Finish: 2, 3, 4
Thoughts from head coach Mark Beyers…
"That has to be as well as we've played all year at No. 1 and 2 doubles. We played really solid and never let Memphis in the match. It's always nice to get a quick doubles point. In singles it was windy and cold, so not everybody probably played their best tennis, but at the end of the day, we took care of business. Overall a pretty good day, because Memphis is a good team."
On starting SEC play…
"We finished off the first part of the season and now we head into the SEC schedule. From here on out, we know that there are zero easy matches. Every single team in this conference is really good as are we, so it will be a battle every weekend. Both Alabama and Auburn are well-coached teams and I am sure there will be a lot of 50-50 matches. We have to figure out how to win those."
Up next…
The Rebels continue a four-match homestand and open up SEC play March 3 at 1 p.m., against Alabama before welcoming Auburn March 5 at 1 p.m.
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
