Women’s Tennis Readies for NCAA First Round Matchup Versus North Florida

			Friday OLE MISS (11-9, 7-6 SEC) vs. NORTH FLORIDA (17-7, 6-0 ASUN) Fri., May 7 • 10:00 a.m. • Atlanta Ken Byers Tennis Complex
Live Scoring/Video

ATLANTA – Ole Miss is set to compete against North Florida in the first round of the NCAA Team Championships at 10 a.m. CT on Friday. The Rebels are the No. 2 seed in the Georgia Tech regional hosted at the Ken Byers Tennis Complex.

The Ken Byers Tennis Complex will operate at 50% capacity for matches this weekend. For fans looking to attend matches, a limited number of students can attend with their school ID and a limited number of general admissions fans will be permitted into the stadium. Attendance to matches will be free. The stadium will be cleared after each session.

Road to Orlando

The Rebels will need to win two regional matchups in Atlanta to reach the 2021 NCAA Team Championships final site at the USTA National Campus in Orlando, Florida. The USTA National Campus will host matches from the Sweet 16 through the finals from May 16-28.

If the Rebels advance past the Ospreys on Friday, Ole Miss will face either No. 13 seed Georgia Tech or Georgia Southern at 1 p.m. CT in the regional championship on Saturday.

Rebels Tournament History

Ole Miss will be making its 21st NCAA appearance in program history. The Rebels have reached the Elite Eight four times. Ole Miss last reached the elite eight in 1999. The Rebels last made the NCAA Team Championships in 2018, reaching the Sweet 16.

Ole Miss at a Glance

The Rebels have compiled an overall record of 11-9 this season and 7-6 record in SEC competition. The Rebels earned six victories versus ranked opponents in 2021. Ole Miss received the No. 25 ranking in the final rankings prior to the team tournament (May 5). The Rebels peaked in the Oracle/ITA team rankings this season at No. 19 (April 14) and have ranked top 25 in the nation across seven weeks this season.

Ole Miss has earned a handful of awards this season. Sabina Machalova placed on the All-SEC first team and Tiphanie Fiquet on the All-SEC second team. Fiquet also won one SEC Player of the Week award and Reka Zadori was voted SEC Freshman of the Week thrice. Tereza Janatova was named the SEC Women's Tennis Student-Athlete of the Year and Alexa Bortles was named to the SEC Community Service Team.

Scouting the Regional Field

University of North Florida

The Rebels first round opponent earned automatic qualification into the NCAA Team Championships by winning their sixth-straight ASUN Championships. The Ospreys have compiled a 17-7 (6-0 ASUN) record this season and enter the NCAA Championships on an eight-match win streak. North Florida competed versus three ranked opponents this season, falling to No. 7 Florida State, No. 24 Furman and No. 18 UCF.

The Osprey's head coach, Catherine Dunagan, was voted the ASUN Coach of the Year this season. Lucia Montano was named the ASUN Player of the Year, and Montano and Constanza Gorches were voted the ASUN Doubles Pair of the Year. Annabelle Davis was also selected as the ASUN Freshman of the Year.

No. 13 Georgia Tech

The Yellow Jackets have earned an 18-10 overall record and 8-5 ACC record this season. Georgia Tech reached the ACC Tournament Championship Match, placing runner-up to No. 1 North Carolina. The Yellow Jackets have defeated eight ranked opponents this season.

Georgia Tech placed two student-athletes on the All-ACC performance list, Kenya Jones on the first team and Victoria Flores on the second team. Jones and Flores combined for 33 dual singles victories this season while only having 12 losses. As a doubles team, Jones and Flores won 20 of 23 duals this season and were 9-1 versus nationally ranked opponents. In the latest Orcale/ITA rankings (May 5), Jones ranked No. 5 and Flores No. 13 in singles. The duo received the No. 13 ranking in doubles. Machalova defeated Jones in their prior match this season, 6-3, 6-4, at the Bulldog Kickoff on Jan. 16.

Georgia Southern

The Eagles have won 19 of 27 matches this season and had a 7-3 record in Sun Belt conference play. Georgia Southern earned automatic qualification into the 64-team tournament after winning their first Sun Belt Championship. The Eagles enter their first big dance in program history in exceptional form after winning 11 consecutive duals. Georgia Southern competed against two ranked opponents this season, falling to No. 22 UCF and No. 7 Georgia.

Head Coach Sean McCaffrey was named the Sun Belt Coach of the Year this season. Three Eagles received All-Sun Belt first team status, Nadja Meier in singles and Charlotte van Diemen and Sophie Wagemaker in doubles. Meier led the Eagles with 15 singles victories this season.

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

RebelsCalendar

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Alexa Bortles

Tiphanie Fiquet

Tereza Janatova

Sabina Machalova

Reka Zadori

The University of Mississippi Athletics