The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss
Georgia - SEC Tournament
No. 6 Women's Tennis Advances to SEC Tournament Semifinals
4/20/2018 | Women's Tennis
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - For the 11th time in program history, the No. 5 seed and No. 6 ranked Ole Miss women's tennis team is headed to the SEC Tournament Semifinals after an impressive 4-1 win against No. 8 Georgia in the quarterfinals here Friday night at the Barksdale Tennis Stadium.
The Rebels will face the No. 1 seed and No. 2 ranked Vanderbilt Saturday at 1 p.m. CT. The Commodores defeated Texas A&M 4-1 to set up the meeting with the Rebels.
The night began with the Rebels taking a huge doubles point where both sides had multiple match points. Georgia won the match on court one 6-2, but the other two would go to tiebreakers. Both courts, the Rebels had match points at the same time and Georgia saved them. Natalie Suk and Anna Vrbenska ended up winning their tiebreaker 7-6(4) sending everyone to court two where Sabina Machalova and Tea Jandric saved several match points just to get to a tiebreaker. They saved another match point at 6-7 in the breaker and won three straight points to take it 7-6(7) to give the Rebels a 1-0 lead.
Senior Arianne Hartono, ranked No. 13 in the nation, wasted little time getting off the court in singles, dominating No. 10 ranked Katarina Jokic at No. 1 singles, 6-0, 6-1, to make it 2-0 Rebels.
Georgia got a straight set win on court six to get on the board, but that would be it for the night.
Machalova, ranked No. 77, finished off 61st-ranked Kennedy Shaffer 6-3, 7-6(3) on court two for a 3-1 Ole Miss lead, and then Jandric sealed it with a 6-2, 6-3 win against 85th-ranked Marta Gonzalez on court three.
The remaining two courts with Vrbenska and Suk, were in the third sets.
Quick Hits...
• The Rebels improved to 20-5 overall.
• This marks the team's first 20-win season since 1999.
• The Rebels have won nine straight matches.
• The Rebels advanced to the SEC Tournament Semifinals for the 11th time in program history.
• Ole Miss won both matches this season against Georgia, marking the first time the Rebels have two straight against Georgia since 1982.
• Arianne Hartono improved to 28-6 overall, 19-2 at No. 1 singles. She has won eight straight.
• Sabina Machalova improved to 20-10 overall, 12-7 in dual matches.
• Tea Jandric improved to 21-10 overall, 14-5 in dual matches.
• Natalie Suk and Anna Vrbenska improved to 11-2 and have won nine straight.
• Machalova and Jandric improved to 9-5.
#6 Ole Miss 4, #8 Georgia 1
Doubles
1. #10 Morgan Coppoc/Elena Christofi (UGA) def. #5 Alexa Bortles/Arianne Hartono (OM) 6-2
2. Sabina Machalova/Tea Jandric (OM) def. #15 Katarina Jokic/Mariana Gould (UGA) 7-6(7)
3. Natalie Suk/Anna Vrbenska (OM) def. Kennedy Shaffer/Annette Goulak (UGA) 7-6(4)
Order of Finish: 1, 3, 2
Singles
1. #13 Arianne Hartono (OM) def. #10 Katarina Jokic (UGA) 6-0, 6-1
2. #77 Sabina Machalova (OM) def. #61 Kennedy Shaffer (UGA) 6-3, 7-6(3)
3. Tea Jandric (OM) def. #85 Marta Gonzalez (UGA) 6-2, 6-3
4. Anna Vrbenska (OM) vs. #115 Mariana Gould (UGA) 0-6, 6-0, 5-4, sus.
5. Natalie Suk (OM) vs. Elena Christofi (UGA) 6-4, 0-6, 3-4, sus.
6. Morgan Coppoc (UGA) def. Alexa Bortles (OM) 6-2, 6-4
Order of Finish: 1, 6, 2, 3
Courtside with Head Coach Mark Beyers...
"That was an absolutely incredible college tennis match out there tonight. The doubles point was so big. We had match points, then Georgia had match points, and we are able to scrape out two tiebreakers. I can't say enough about these ladies about the fight and heart they've showed all season. Just an incredible day to be an Ole Miss Rebel."
Next up...
The Rebels face a rematch with No. 1 seed and No. 2 ranked Vanderbilt in the semifinals. In the regular season meeting in Oxford, the Rebels won the doubles point and the No. 5 singles match, but Vanderbilt claimed victories on the top four courts for a 4-2 win.
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
