The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss
Wichita State - NCAA Second Round
No. 5 Rebels Headed to Sweet Sixteen
5/12/2018 | Women's Tennis
OXFORD, Miss. - For the first time since 2010, the No. 5 seed Ole Miss women's tennis team is headed to the NCAA Sweet Sixteen, rallying to top a gritty Wichita State team 4-2 here Saturday in the NCAA second round at the Palmer/Salloum Tennis Center.
The Rebels await the winner of the No. 13 seed UCLA/Baylor match in the round of 16 May 17 in Winston Salem, North Carolina.
It was anything but easy for the Rebels on Saturday, as Wichita State grabbed the early momentum by taking the doubles point with wins on courts three and one.
Ole Miss rebounded in singles winning four first sets. Senior Arianne Hartono made her last match at home count, downing WSU's Fatima Bizhukova 6-0, 6-2 to tie it at 1-1.
Sophomore Anna Vrbenska followed up with a 6-4, 6-3 win against Sandra Honigova at No. 3 singles to hand the Rebels a 2-1 lead. Allie Sanford, playing in just her second dual singles match of the year, came up big with a 6-2, 6-3 win on court six against Sarvinoz Saidhujaeva to increase the lead to 3-1.
The remaining matches would all go three sets. Senior Natalie Suk found herself trailing in the third set on court four against WSU's Gabriela Prorubin. She rallied to get to 5-5, before dropping the final two games as the Shockers pulled to within one, 3-2.
With Alexa Bortles locked in a tight match on court five, leading 2-1 in the third, freshman Sabina Machalova stepped up huge to snatch victory from defeat against WSU's Giulia Guidetti. Machalova dropped the first set 6-4, but rallied to win the second 6-1. Guidetti jumped out to a big lead (5-2) in the third set and had match points, but Machalova stormed back to win it 7-5 and clinch the Rebels' ninth trip to the Sweet Sixteen.
Quick Hits…
• The Rebels are now 22-6 overall.
• Ole Miss advanced to the Sweet Sixteen for the ninth time and first since 2010.
• The Rebels improved to 24-20 in the NCAA Tournament.
• Ole Miss improved to 5-1 in NCAA Tournament home matches.
• Saturday marked the first ever meeting between Ole Miss and Wichita State.
• Arianne Hartono improved to 31-6 overall, 22-2 at No. 1 singles. She has won 11 straight.
• Anna Vrbenska improved to 16-4 in dual matches.
• Sabina Machalova improved to 21-11 overall, 13-8 in dual matches.
• Allie Sanford won her first dual match in singles this year.
#6 Ole Miss 4, Wichita State 2
Doubles
1. #72 Fatima Bizhukova/Marta Bellucco (WSU) #5 Arianne Hartono/Alexa Bortles (OM) 7-5
2. Natalie Suk/Anna Vrbenksa (OM) def. Giulia Guidetti/Ting-Ya Hsu (WSU) 6-2
3. Gabriela Porubin/Sarvinoz Saidujaeva (WSU) def. Sabina Machalova/Allie Sanford (OM) 6-3
Order of Finish: 3, 2, 1
Singles
1. #5 Arianne Hartono (OM) def. Fatima Bizhukova (WSU) 6-0, 6-2
2. Sabina Machalova (OM) def. Giulia Guidetti (WSU) 4-6, 6-1, 7-5
3. Anna Vrbenska (OM) def. Sandra Honigova (WSU) 6-4, 6-3
4. Gabriela Prorubin (WSU) def. Natalie Suk (OM) 6-3, 3-6, 7-5
5. Alexa Bortles (OM) vs. Marto Bellucco (WSU) 6-4, 3-6, 2-1, sus.
6. Allie Sanford (OM) def. Sarvinoz Saidhujaeva (WSU) 6-2, 6-3
Order of Finish: 1, 3, 6, 4, 2
Courtside with Head Coach Mark Beyers...
"This was a big win for us. We knew it would be a close match. I watched them (Wichita State) play against Syracuse and they have a great team. I knew it would be like the SEC matches we've had here. We always talk about never giving up on yourself and keep fighting until the last ball is struck. Sometimes when you do that, good things happen. Sabina was able to do that today down 5-2 and five match points."
On the Team Never Giving up…
"Natalie kept battling and got it to 5-5 in the third. Super proud of Allie Sanford. She's worked really hard this semester and hasn't gotten to play that many matches. It's tough sometimes when you don't get a lot of matches, but huge for her to come up with a big point for us today. Ari kept rolling, and same for Anna. They both played really well."
On Going to First Sweet Sixteen in Eight Years…
"We've been close a lot of times, but because we weren't ranked as high, we would end up playing really good teams like North Carolina, ranked No. 1 or 2 in the country. This year, we had a little bit easier road, but again you saw how many upsets there were on Friday not just on the women's side, but the men's as well. There is so much more parody in college tennis now that there are no easy matches anymore."
Freshman Sabina Machalova…
"Grant (Roberts - assistant coach) told me at 1-4 down in the third that he still believed in me that I could win. At 2-4 the other girl played a really good game to make it 2-5. Honestly, at that moment I knew it was going to be tough, but I just tried to stay patient, and the girls really supported me on every point. That helped a lot. At 5-5 I just kept trying to play my best and thank goodness it worked."
On if she knew what was happening around her…
"I saw that Nat lost 5-7 in the third and that Alexa was headed to a third set. I just tried to stay focused on my match though. At 3-5, I just kept saying to myself after each point, one more, one more. I am so glad I won, and Grant was amazing supporting me the entire time. It was awesome."
Senior Arianne Hartono…
"Of course it was nerve wracking, but I have all the faith in Sabina and everyone else on the team. For her to pull it off like that, I am just so proud of the effort and the energy that everyone single one of us brought today."
On her Last Hurrah on the Home Courts…
"I put it all out there, but it's not just about me. This was for everyone who put so much into this, not just the players. You want to do your best for everyone and I am just so grateful for the opportunity I got here. I couldn't be more thankful."
Next up…
The Rebels will face the winner of the No. 13 UCLA/Baylor match May 17 in Winston Salem, North Carolina. Times for all Sweet Sixteen matches will be set once the field is complete.
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
