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The University of Mississippi Athletics
No. 11 Rebels to Host Pair of Top 15 Teams
3/14/2018 | Women's Tennis
Live Video/Scoring
OXFORD, Miss. -- Seven Southeastern Conference teams rank among the Oracle/ITA Top 25 and the No. 11-ranked Ole Miss women's tennis team welcomes two of them this weekend to the Palmer/Salloum Tennis Center.
First up, the Rebels will face No. 14 Kentucky Thursday at 1 p.m., followed by defending SEC Champion and current No. 2-ranked, Vanderbilt, Saturday at 1 p.m.
Promotions...
Fans coming to Thursday's match can pick up a free poster of junior Allie Sanford. Saturday is St. Patrick's Day, and the first 100 fans will receive a free St. Patrick's Day t-shirt.
Last Time Out...
The Rebels are coming off a split of last weekend's matches defeating Alabama 4-2 before dropping a tight 4-3 match at Auburn. The win against Alabama marked the Rebels' third straight in the series. At Auburn, the Rebels dropped the doubles point and that proved to be the difference, as they got singles wins from Arianne Hartono, Anna Vrbenska and Tea Jandric.
Scouting Kentucky...
Kentucky comes into Thursday's match at 11-3 overall, 3-1 in the SEC. They are coming off a 4-0 win at Missouri. The Wildcats have won eight of their last nine matches, including four straight road wins. Kentucky is led by junior Justina Mikulskyte, who is ranked No. 122 with a 7-3 record at No. 1 singles. The Wildcats' No. 1 doubles team of Mami Adachi and Emily Fanning are ranked No. 20 with a 10-3 record at the top spot.
Rebels vs. Wildcats...
The last several meetings have been very close, but the Wildcats have won three straight including a 4-2 win in Lexington last year. The Rebels are looking for their first win in the series since 2014.
Scouting Vanderbilt...
Vanderbilt comes into the weekend at 10-1 overall and 4-0 in the SEC after a 4-3 win at Arkansas last Sunday. The Commodores are led by Fernanda Contreras, who is ranked No. 5 in singles with a 7-2 dual match record, 6-1 at No. 2 singles. Astra Sharma is ranked No. 22 with a 5-1 record at No. 1 singles. The Commodores boast three players in the top 30 as Christina Rosca is ranked No. 27 with a 7-0 record at No. 3. Vanderbilt's No. 1 doubles pairing of Contreras and Sharma is ranked No. 26.
Rebels vs. Commodores...
Vanderbilt has won four straight including a 5-2 victory last year in Nashville.
Rebels in the Rankings...
In this week's Oracle/ITA Team Rankings, the Rebels (10-4) are ranked No. 11. In the USTA Top 25, the Rebels are ranked No. 17. Several Rebels are ranked in the latest individual rankings. Senior Arianne Hartono is ranked No. 13 in singles and teams with Alexa Bortles for a No. 11 ranking in doubles. Hartono leads the team with a 19-5 overall record, 10-1 at No. 1 singles. She is 3-1 in the SEC. Junior Tea Jandric is ranked No. 69 in singles with an 8-1 dual match record. She has won seven in a row. Freshman Sabina Machalova is ranked No. 106 in singles.
Courtside with Head Coach Mark Beyers…
"We have another exciting SEC home weekend, with two top 15 teams coming in. Both Kentucky and Vanderbilt will be tough tests, but at the same time they are great opportunities for us to try and get back into the top 10."
Players Mentioned
