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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss
South Carolina
Rebels Drop Tight Match at No. 13 South Carolina
4/9/2017 | Women's Tennis
COLUMBIA, S.C. -- The Ole Miss women's tennis team battled No. 13 South Carolina right down to the wire Sunday, before dropping a 4-2 match at the Carolina Tennis Stadium.
Arianne Hartono and Alexa Bortles won 6-1 at No. 1 doubles, but South Carolina earned 6-3 wins on courts two and three to take the point and the 1-0 lead.
The Rebels came out strong in singles and secured three first sets and had a chance to win a fourth. Hartono, ranked No. 40 in the nation, dominated 41st-ranked Ingrid Gamarra Martins 6-1, 6-1 at No. 1 singles to tie it at 1-1.
South Carolina went up 3-1 with a pair of straight set wins on courts four and six. The Rebels answered when junior Natalie Suk, ranked No. 95, finished off Mia Horvit, ranked No. 54, 6-1, 2-6, 6-1 at No. 2 singles to get within one of the Gamecocks.
The remaining two matches would go three, with the Gamecocks' Silvia Chinellato outlasting redshirt freshman Tereza Janatova 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 at No. 5 singles to clinch. When the match stopped, senior Zalina Khairudinova led 1-0 in the final set at No. 3 singles.
At the net...
• The Rebels are now 13-10 on the year, 3-8 in the SEC
• Arianne Hartono improved to 11-9 at No. 1 singles
• Natalie Suk picked up her third nationally ranked win of the year
Complete results
Doubles
1. #45 Bortles/Hartono (OM) def. Martins/Dailey (USC) 6-1
2. Cline/Folland (USC) def. Suk/Stevens (OM) 6-3
3. Berg/Rohrabacher (USC) def. Khairudinova/Jandric (OM) 6-3
Order of Finish: 1, 2, 3
Singles
1. #40 Arianne Hartono (OM) def. #41 Ingrid Gamarra Martins (USC) 6-1, 6-1
2. #95 Natalie Suk (OM) def. #54 Mia Horvit (USC) 6-1, 2-6, 6-1
3. Zalina Khairudinova (OM) vs. Paige Cline (USC) 6-7, 6-4, 1-0, sus.
4. Hadley Berg (USC) def. Alexa Bortles (OM) 6-0, 6-2
5. Silvia Chinellato (USC) def. Tereza Janatova (OM) 3-6, 6-1, 6-4
6. Brigit Folland (USC) def. Allie Sanford (OM) 6-2, 6-2
Order of Finish: 1, 4, 6, 2, 5
Thoughts from head coach Mark Beyers...
"It was a tough battle against another top 15 team. At the end there, Z has the momentum early in her third set, and I feel if Tereza can break back to get to 5-5 in the third, she takes that match. We had some great individual efforts by Ari and Nat against really good players. Like I mentioned before, this team is so close to being really good."
Up next...
The Rebels return home to close out the regular season with No. 12 Auburn Wednesday at Noon followed by No. 15 Mississippi State April 15 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
