The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss
LSU
Women's Tennis Downs No. 19 LSU 4-0
3/31/2017 | Women's Tennis
Complete Results | Photo Gallery 
OXFORD, Miss. - On a perfect Friday afternoon at the Palmer/Salloum Tennis Center, the Ole Miss women's tennis team won the doubles point and earned singles wins from courts one, five and four to down No. 19 LSU 4-0.
Head coach Mark Beyers earned his 250th career win and 200th at Ole Miss, becoming the second coach in program history to record 200 wins with the Rebels.
Fans were treated to free crawfish before the match, followed by great tennis from the Rebels from start to finish.
Looking to find a way to get the doubles point after losing a few in a row, the Rebels switched up the top two teams and it finally paid off against the Tigers. Natalie Suk and Anna Vrbenska cruised to a 6-2 win against Jade Lewis and Becca Weissmann on court two, and then Arianne Hartono and Alexa Bortles finished off a huge comeback against 20th-ranked Joana Valle Costa and Ryann Foster, 7-5, on court one. Hartono and Bortles trailed 2-5 in before winning five straight games.
The Rebels carried the momentum over to singles, winning five first sets. Hartono, ranked No. 71, made quick work of 30th-ranked Lewis 6-1, 6-1 at No. 1 singles, to make it 2-0 Rebels.
Tea Jandric defeated Weissmann 6-3, 6-4 at No. 5 singles to put the Rebels within one.
LSU had battled back to get the matches on courts two, six and four to third sets, while Rebel senior Zalina Khairudinova rallied to push hers to a third set on court three. Khairudinova earned three match points at 5-3 in the third, but Foster erased them all and broke to extend the match.
With Bortles up 1-0 early in the third set on court six and Suk just starting a third at two, Vrbenska made sure none of the other three would be necessary as she closed out LSU's Jessica Golovin 7-5, 4-6, 6-2 on court four to clinch the 4-0 victory.
At the net...
• The Rebels are now 12-7 on the year, 3-5 in the SEC
• This marked the Rebels second win this year against LSU
• The Rebels snapped LSU's four-match winning streak in the SEC
• The Rebels now lead the all-time series 29-16 and have won five of the last seven meetings
• The Rebels won the doubles point for the 10th time this year
• Arianne Hartono and Alexa Bortles improved to 2-1 since teaming up together
• Head coach Mark Beyers picked up his 250th career win and 200th at Ole Miss
• Beyers became the second coach in program history to reach 200 wins at Ole Miss
• Anna Vrbenska improved to 17-7 overall and 7-1 in the SEC
Complete results
Doubles
1. Hartono/Bortles (OM) def. #20 Vale Costa/Foster (LSU) 7-5
2. Suk/Vrbenska (OM) def. Lewis/Weissmann (LSU) 6-2
3. Khairudinova/Jandric (OM) vs. Golovin/Holloway (LSU) 5-5, sus.
Order of Finish: 2, 1
Singles
1. #71 Arianne Hartono (OM) def. #30 Jade Lewis (LSU) 6-1 ,6-1
2. #82 Natalie Suk (OM) vs. #86 Joana Valle Costa (LSU) 7-6(4), 5-7, sus.
3. Zalina Khairudinova (OM) vs. #105 Ryann Foster (LSU) 1-6, 6-4, 5-4, sus.
4. Anna Vrbenska (OM) def. Jessica Golovin (LSU) 7-5, 4-6, 6-25.
5. Tea Jandric (OM) def. Becca Weissmann (LSU) 6-3, 6-4
6. Alexa Bortles (OM) vs. Skylar Holloway (LSU) 6-3, 6-7(5), 1-0, sus.
Order of Finish: 1, 5, 4
Thoughts from head coach Mark Beyers...
"It says 4-0 on the scoreboard, but this match was very close. That's going to be the case again on Sunday. It was huge to get the doubles point. When we played them at the ITA Kick-Off indoors, we won the doubles as well. They (LSU) are really good and had won four in a row. For us to win five first sets and come back in the one that we did lose and take the second was big. We didn't give away anything today and that was impressive to watch. We made them earn everything they got."
On starting off home weekend with a win...
"This is huge for us. It's nice when you get the Friday match, because you play a little more relaxed on Sunday."
On getting 250th career win...
"It's nice to get the 250th win in such a big match against a team as good as LSU. It means that we have had a lot of great student-athletes that were great players, tremendous people and outstanding students. I could name a list of players and coaches that I have to thank, because I didn't win all the matches. The players are the ones who put in the blood, sweat and tears. I can't thank the current players enough but also players from 10-15 years ago, some of the greatest kids ever. I am excited to stay in touch with a lot of them. Again, it's pretty cool that it happened at home against a good LSU team."
Freshman Anna Vrbenska...
"I didn't look at the scoreboard, but I knew that every other match was very close. I just tried to stay focused on my match and play my game. I saw that Zalina (Khairudinova) had three match points, but I kept battling to finish my match."
On how big win is after two tough road losses...
"We had a tough road trip last weekend with two difficult losses, a little unlucky to lose both. This is huge for us looking ahead to Sunday. It will help us play with less pressure and more relaxed."
Up next...
The Rebels will welcome Texas A&M Sunday at 1 p.m. Fans will enjoy free Sundaes.
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
