Women’s Tennis Narrowly Defeated 4-3 by No. 7 Auburn

OXFORD, Miss. – No. 61 Ole Miss Women's Tennis (8-6, 2-4 SEC) fell 4-3 to No. 7 Auburn (14-2, 5-0 SEC) at home at the Palmer/Salloum Tennis Center on Sunday. The Rebels split two matches over the weekend, 1-1, versus two higher-ranked SEC opponents.

The Rebels and Tigers were evenly matched in singles on Sunday afternoon, splitting the six matches 3-3. Doubles proved crucial to the match result, as Auburn took the opening point and carved away a 4-3 victory over Ole Miss on the Rebels' home court. The Rebels fall to 7-2 at home, having earned seven of eight wins in Oxford. The Rebels' three-match win streak dating back to 2018 was snapped in a close dual.

The Tigers started hot, sweeping doubles 2-0. Auburn won quickly on Court No. 3, 6-1. No. 21 Selin Ovunc and Ariana Arseneault defeated Sabina Machalova and Rachel Krzyzak 6-3 to clinch the opening point for Auburn.

No. 79 Machalova responded in singles, defeating No. 57 Ovunc 6-4, 6-2 to tie the match 1-1. Machalova earned back-to-back wins at No. 1 Singles versus higher-ranked opponents this weekend. She improved her record to 17-9 overall and 7-4 in duals this season.

Auburn regained the lead, 2-1, by taking No. 2 Singles in straight sets. No. 114 Carolyn Ansari defeated Reka Zadori 6-4, 6-3. The Tigers would go on to lead the rest of the way. Auburn extended the lead to two decision points, taking No. 5 Singles in two sets. Yu Chen then clinched the victory at 4-1 for the Tigers defeating Elysia Pool. Pool won the first set 6-2, but then Chen won the second 6-0 and the third 6-4.

Seconds after Auburn clinched the victory Ludmila Kareisová defeated No. 54 Arsenault 6-4, 7-6 (5) to close the match to 4-2. Kareisovás win was the new highest-ranked win as the Freshman also defeated No. 89 Ena Babic of LSU on March 11. Rachel Krzyzak earned a grueling three-set win at No. 4 Singles to end the match on a positive note for the Rebels. After dropping the first set to Adeline Flach 4-6, Krzyzak won both the second and third sets 7-4 in tiebreaks. She won her fourth straight match and improved to 4-0 at the No. 4 position in 2022. The Rebels lost to the Tigers 4-3.

Up Next: The Rebels head on the road next weekend to compete at Florida on March 25 and at South Carolina on March 27.

Auburn 4, Ole Miss 3

Doubles
1. No. 21 Selin Ovunc/Ariana Arseneault (AUB) def. Sabina Machalova/Rachel Krzyzak, 6-3
2. Adeline Flach/Georgia Axon (AUB) vs. Lillian Gabrielsen/Ludmila Kareisová, 5-3
3. Carolyn Ansari/Madeline Meredith (AUB) def. Elysia Pool/Kelsey Mize, 6-1

Singles
1. No. 79 Sabina Machalova def. No. 57 Selin Ovunc (AUB), 6-4, 6-2
2. Ludmila Kareisová def. No. 54 Ariana Arseneault (AUB), 6-4, 7-6 (5)
3. No. 114 Carolyn Ansari (AUB) def. Reka Zadori, 6-4, 6-3
4. Rachel Krzyzak def. Adeline Flach (AUB), 4-6, 7-6 (4), 7-6 (4)
5. Georgia Axon (AUB) def. Lillian Gabrielsen, 7-5, 6-2
6. Yu Chen (AUB) def. Elysia Pool, 2-6, 6-0, 6-4

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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Team Stats

Players Mentioned

Lillian Gabrielsen

Rachel Krzyzak

Sabina Machalova

Kelsey Mize

Elysia Pool

Reka Zadori