The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss
.png&width=60&height=60&type=webp)
Mississippi State
Women's Tennis Drops Heartbreaker to No. 20 MSU
4/15/2017 | Women's Tennis
Complete Results | Photo Gallery 
OXFORD, Miss. - In a back and forth battle on Senior Day Saturday at the Palmer/Salloum Tennis Center, the Ole Miss women's tennis team dropped a heartbreaker, 4-3, to No. 20 ranked Mississippi State that came down to a third set on court two.
With the match tied at 3-3, everyone focused on court two, where junior Natalie Suk was locked in a tight third set with State's Lisa Marie Rioux at No. 2 singles. Suk lost a tight tiebreaker in the first set after being down and then battled back to get the second set 6-3. She saved three match points serving 4-5, but then serving 5-6 Rioux broke to clinch the 7-6(6), 3-6, 7-5 victory and the match.
State won a tight doubles point to take the early 1-0 lead. Zalina Khairudinova and Natalie Suk won 6-2 at No. 2 doubles and then won 7-5 at No. 1. The point came down to court three, where the MSU duo of Sara Lizariturry and Madison Harrison saved a match point against the Rebel tandem of Brooke Stevens and Tereza Janatova to push it to a tiebreaker, which they won 7-6(2) to clinch the 1-0 lead.
The Rebels fell behind 2-0 when 16th-ranked Jasmine Lee topped 38th-ranked Arianne Hartono 6-3, 6-2 at No. 1 singles.
Straight set wins from Anna Vrbenska and Tea Jandric tied the match at 2-2. Vrbenska defeated Anastastia Rentouli 6-1, 6-4 at No. 4 and then Jandric finished off a 6-3, 6-3 win against Kristina Vozniak at No. 5.
The Bulldogs regained the lead at 3-2 with a win on court six but then Khairudinova finished off Madison Harrison on court three, 6-4, 5-7, 6-2 to tie it at 3.
At the net…
• The Rebels are now 13-12 on the year, 3-10 in the SEC
• Ole Miss still leads the all-time series 52-7
• This was State's first win in Oxford since 1989 and just their second overall since then
• The Rebels finished the regular season playing eight straight top 25 teams
• Anna Vrbenska improved to 18-7 overall, 13-4 in dual matches and 8-1 in the SEC
• Vrbenska has won five in a row
• Tea Jandric improved to 10-7 in dual matches
Complete results
Doubles
1. #3 Lee/Rioux (MSU) def. #53 Bortles/Hartono (OM) 7-5
2. Suk/Khairudinova (OM) def. Vozniak/Brown (MSU) 6-2
3. Lizaraturry/Harrison (MSU) def. Stevens/Janatova (OM) 7-6(2)
Order of Finish: 2, 1, 3
Singles
1. #16 Jasmine Lee (MSU) def. #38 Arianne Hartono (OM) 6-3, 6-2
2. Lisa Marie Rioux (MSU) def. #77 Natalie Suk (OM) 7-6(6), 3-6, 7-5
3. Zalina Khairudinova (OM) def. Madison Harrison (MSU) 6-4, 5-7, 6-2
4. Anna Vrbenska (OM) def. Anastasia Rentouli (MSU) 6-1, 6-4
5. Tea Jandric (OM) def. Khrystyna Vozniak (MSU) 6-3, 6-3
6. Sara Lizariturry (MSU) def. Alexa Bortles (OM) 7-5, 7-5
Order of Finish: 1, 4, 5, 6, 3, 2
Thoughts from head coach Mark Beyers…
"We've played eight straight top 25 teams, so we know every single one of these teams are good. If we play well, we have a chance to beat all these teams. Today was a great battle overall. The State of Mississippi should be proud that we have two really good college tennis teams battling it out. I am sure it was a great match for the fans, but obviously we would have loved to come out on top."
On what he said after Wednesday's match…
"I challenged the team after the Auburn match telling that you can't control the outcome, but you can control your energy level and how much you're willing to fight through ups and downs in matches. We did a much better job of that today than on Wednesday."
Up next…
The Rebels will head to Nashville, Tennessee for the SEC Championship, which begins on April 19. The draw will be released at the conclusion of the regular season this weekend.
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
