The University of Mississippi Athletics
Women's Tennis to Face Top-Ranked Foes this Weekend
4/6/2017 | Women's Tennis
Florida: Live Video/Scoring | South Carolina: Live Video | Live Scoring
OXFORD, Miss. - As the regular season winds down, the Ole Miss women's tennis team begins a stretch of four matches against teams ranked inside the top 16, starting with No. 1 Florida Friday in Gainesville.
The Rebels and Gators will square off Friday at 4 p.m. CT at the Ring Tennis Complex. Following that match, Ole Miss will end the weekend in Columbia, South Carolina against the No. 13 Gamecocks Sunday, at 12 p.m. CT.
What to watch for…
Freshman Anna Vrbenska continues her excellent play at 12-4 in dual matches, 7-1 in the SEC. She has won four in a row.
​Last time out…
Ole Miss (13-8, 3-6 SEC) split their league matches last weekend, downing No. 19 LSU 4-0 before dropping a 4-1 match to No. 25 Texas A&M. On Wednesday, the Rebels shut out Arkansas-Pine Bluff 6-0.
Scouting Florida…
After a 4-0 win against No. 11 Auburn last Sunday, the Gators head into the final two weekends of the regular season fighting for an SEC Championship at 8-1 and 18-1 overall. Their only loss so far came at home against No. 2 Georgia. Doubles partners, junior Josie Kulman and senior Belinda Woolcock are ranked No. 12 and No. 13 in the latest ITA rankings and hold an 8-0 SEC record.
Rebels and the Gators…
Florida leads the all-time series 44-3, including a 4-0 win in Oxford last year. The Rebels last win in the series was a 4-3 decision on March 27, 2009 in Oxford.
Scouting South Carolina…
South Carolina improved to 14-6 overall and 5-4 in the SEC after defeating Alabama 4-3 last Sunday. The Gamecocks are led by 41st-ranked Ingrid Gamarra Martins and 54th-ranked Mia Horvit. Junior Hadley Berg clinched the clinched the win over Alabama to keep her perfect dual match record (16-0) intact this season.
Rebels and Gamecocks…
The Gamecocks hold a slight 19-15 edge in the series as a result of a four-match win streak in the series. The Rebels last win in the series came in 2013 in the second round of the SEC Tournament.
Rebels and the Rankings…
The Rebels are ranked No. 26 in the latest ITA/Oracle Rankings and receiving votes in the USTA College Tennis Top 25. Junior Arianne Hartono is ranked No. 40 in singles and teams with freshman Alexa Bortles for a No 45 doubles ranking. Junior Natalie Suk is ranked No. 95 in singles.
Thoughts from head coach Mark Beyers…
"We close out the regular season with a tough slate of matches beginning with No. 1 Florida, who is obviously a very good team from top to bottom. Then Sunday we face another great team in South Carolina. We've been competitive in every SEC match this year, and hopefully we can go out there and pick up another win going into our final home matches next week."
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.
