No. 24 Women’s Tennis Opens SEC Play with Arkansas, Kentucky

			No. 28 OLE MISS (8-2, 0-0 SEC) at ARKANSAS (7-4, 0-0 SEC) Friday, Feb. 28 • 5:00 p.m. • Fayetteville, Ark. Billingsley Tennis Center
Live Stats

			No. 20 OLE MISS (9-1, 0-0 SEC) vs. KENTUCKY (7-4, 0-0 SEC) Sunday, March 1 • 1 p.m. • Oxford, Miss. Palmer/Salloum Tennis Center
Live Video and Scoring

OXFORD, Miss. -- Coming off a thrilling upset of then-No. 14 UCF last weekend to wrap up their nonconference schedule, Ole Miss Women's Tennis begins conference play, traveling to Fayetteville to face Arkansas before hosting Kentucky Sunday in their league home opener at Palmer/Salloum Tennis Center.

The 4-3 victory for the Rebels was their first road Top 15 win since 2018, and snapped a five-match win streak for UCF against SEC opponents. The comeback was led by redshirt senior Tereza Janatova, who clinched the match in thrilling fashion in a third-set tiebreak after dropping six consecutive games.

Freshman Kelsey Mize began the rally, picking up the first ranked win of her career, downing the Knights' top-ranked player in No. 41 Rebeka Stolmar. Senior Alexa Bortles also registered a ranked win, taking down No. 64 on a second-set break, 7-4.

Both Friday and Sunday's matches will have live scoring and video streaming available, pending weather.

RANKED REBELS
After the victory, the Rebels rose to the Top 25 in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Rankings, climbing from No. 28 to No. 24. Individually, junior Sabina Machalova carries a No. 53 boasting in singles.

JANATOVA CROWNED PLAYER OF THE WEEK
For her efforts, Janatova was named SEC Player of the Week, the first weekly honor of her career. She has won nine consecutive matches, carrying a perfect 8-0 record this spring, and tops the squad with 16 total wins on the year.

SCOUTING THE RAZORBACKS
Arkansas carries a 5-3 record into conference play, winning three of their last four matches, most recently blanking Missouri State 4-0. Despite returning a veteran lineup of seven players, the Razorbacks boast just one set of ranked players, the No. 22 duo of senior Lauren Alter and junior Tatum Rice. The pair is 6-2 in dual matches this spring. Individually, senior Jackie Carr carries the same record, holding steady on Court 3.

SCOUTING THE WILDCATS
Kentucky, which carries a Top 50 ranking at No. 39, will face No. 27 Texas A&M Friday before trekking to Oxford. The Wildcats at 7-4 on the season, most recently suffering a blanking to No. 26 Arizona State 0-4 last Saturday. Senior Anastasia Tkachenko tops the squad with nine wins this spring, and while three other Wildcats carry ITA rankings.

Singles:
No. 97 Carlota Molina Megias
No. 118 Lesedi Jacobs

Doubles:
No. 26 Lesedi Jacobs & Akvile Parazinskaite (Akvilė Paražinskaitė)

UP NEXT
Ole Miss will continue with their homestand, welcoming No. 9 Georgia and No. 23 Tennessee next weekend. Fans can enter to win a brand new 55' television during the Georgia contest.

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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.

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Players Mentioned

Alexa Bortles

Tereza Janatova

Sabina Machalova

Kelsey Mize

The University of Mississippi Athletics