Women's Tennis Prepares for In-State Rival

			OLE MISS (8-8, 2-6 SEC) at Mississippi State (10-9, 0-8 SEC) Friday, March 31 • 4 p.m. CT • Starkville, Miss. Rula Tennis Pavilion
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Starkville Miss. - Ole Miss women's tennis heads to Starkville for a clash against their in-state rival Mississippi State on Friday, March 31. The match will begin at 4 p.m. CT.

Live scoring and live video for both matches will be available to the public. Links to both can be found above as well as on the Ole Miss women's tennis schedule page.

SERVICE LINE

The Rebels dropped matches against No. 26 South Carolina and No. 19 Florida.
Ole Miss holds a four-match win streak over the Bulldogs. The last time the Rebels lost to them on the road was during the 2015-16 season.
Ole Miss has three players with 15 or more singles wins, which includes two with 10-plus dual singles wins
The team also has three players with double-digit doubles victories.
Overall, the bottom of the singles lineup has been stellar, with a 19-8 record at the No. 5 and No. 6 positions.
Kareisova vaulted up 31 spots to No. 62 in the latest ITA Singles Rankings after going 4-0 with two ranked wins from March 7 to March 14.
In eight conference matches, Kareisova's taken down three ranked opponents and is 6-1 in singles matches.

OLE MISS REBELS
Lillian Gabrielsen (Sr.) - Oslo, Norway
- Compiled a 15-11 overall singles record and an 11-9 overall doubles record
- Made the ITA Fall National Championships in singles as the South Region runner-up
- Reached the round of 16 in doubles at the ITA South Region Championships in 2021
Ludmila Kareisova (So.) - Liberec, Czechia
- Has a 15-8 singles record and 10-10 doubles record
- She is also 6-3 against ranked opponents in singles, with three coming in the last five matches
- She is 6-1 in SEC singles play. Kareisova started 6-0 in the conference
- Kareisova moved to the No. 1 singles position
- ITA South Region Championships doubles runner-up, which earned a spot in the ITA National in 2021
Emma Kette (Fr.) - Rammelsbach, Germany
- Has a 9-8 singles record and a 6-7 doubles record
- First Rebel freshman since Alexa Bortles in 2016-17 to start her dual career 6-0
- Joined the squad this January
Rachel Krzyzak (So.) - Milton, Ontario, Canada
- She is 4-4 in dual singles since returning
- Earned her first conference doubles win against Auburn with Emma Kette
- Compiled an 18-11 singles record and 15-15 doubles record during the 2021-22 season
Anaelle Leclercq-Ficher (So.) - La Perche, France
- Has an 8-9 doubles record
- Reached doubles quarterfinals of ITA South Region Championships in 2021
- Voted SEC Freshman of the Year on March 2, 2021
Kelsey Mize (Sr.*) - Tulsa, Okla.
- Has an 11-9 singles and doubles record
- She and Lillian Gabrielsen are 7-3 in dual matches together to start the season.
- The duo earned the team's first ranked win over No. 60 Carly Briggs and Rachel Gailis
- ITA South Region Championships doubles runner-up in 2021, advanced to ITA Fall Nationals
Reka Zadori (Jr.) - Szeged, Hungary
- Has a 17-12 singles record and an 8-10 doubles record. Leads team in singles wins
- Made it to the singles quarterfinals of the ITA South Region Championships in 2021
- Also reached doubles quarterfinals of ITA South Region Championships in 2021

LAST TIME ON THE COURT
- Ole Miss women's tennis dropped matches to No. 26 South Carolina and No. 19 Florida
- The Rebels did not win the doubles point against South Carolina, but Gabrielsen and Mize started their strong weekend with a 6-3 victory.
- After the Gamecocks clinched the match, Gabrielsen's momentum carried her to a 6-3, 5-7, 1-0 (2) win at No. 3 singles.
- Once again, Gabrielsen and Mize were successful against Florida despite the team not gaining the doubles point.
- The senior duo earned Ole Miss' first ranked doubles win of the season with their 6-4 win over No. 60 Carly Briggs and Rachel Gailis.
- In singles action, the Rebels lost the first two matches before Zadori put points on the board.
- Zadori won in straight sets, 6-4, 6-3, at No. 6 singles, improving her win total to 17 on the year.
- However, the match would finish with a loss at No. 5 singles.

ALL-TIME SERIES
Ole Miss has controlled the all-time series against Mississippi State, leading 56-7 and 24-3 on the road. The Rebels have won the last four match-ups and 31 of the previous 33, last lost to the Bulldogs during the 2015-16 season.

HEAD COACH MARK BEYERS
- Beyers is in his 22nd year coaching the Ole Miss women's tennis team.
- He has compiled a 278-238 record with Ole Miss and a 325-246 career record.
- Beyers earned ITA South Region Coach of the Year in 2010, 2012, and 2018.
- He has led the team to seven NCAA Second Round appearances and one Sweet 16 appearance.
- He coached the only Ole Miss NCAA Singles Champion, Arianne Hartono, in 2018, as well as four CoSIDA Academic All-Americans and 35 All-SEC honorees.
- Prior to Ole Miss, Beyers spent three seasons as the head coach of the women's tennis team at his alma mater Armstrong Atlantic State. The team captured the NCAA DII National Championship, posted a 50-8 record, and won the Peach Belt Conference each year.

OPPOSITE SIDE OF THE NET
Mississippi State
Mississippi State started its season 10-1 in non-conference play but has fallen into an 0-8 hole in SEC action with five matches remaining. The Bulldogs' last win was back on February 10 against Alabama A&M. The roster is a good mix of returning players, freshmen, and transfers. Two of the five returners are making huge impacts, starting with graduate student Emmanouela Antonaki compiling a 17-11 singles record and three ranked wins. Junior Chloe Cirotte is 10-4 in singles and 7-5 in doubles. Mississippi State also brought in four transfers, including Gia Cohen from Georgia Tech and Maria Rizzolo from Minnesota. Cohen has compiled a 14-10 singles record, mainly from No. 2 singles, and a 13-10 doubles record. Rizzolo is the only ranked Bulldog at No. 117 with a 9-11 singles record. The Bulldogs play just one match this week against Ole Miss.

MILESTONE MARKERS
- Gabrielsen is five doubles wins away from 50 in her career and two dual doubles wins from 30.
- Gabrielsen broke her career season-high of 15 singles wins against No. 26 South Carolina
- Gabrielsen needs three singles wins for 40 in her career.
- Kareisova needs three more singles, and four more doubles wins to reach 30 in her young career.
- Kette just one overall and dual singles wins from 10 in both categories. She also has four doubles wins from 10.
- Krzyzak is three dual singles wins, and two overall doubles wins away from 20.
- Leclercq-Ficher is two overall singles wins from 20 in her career.
- Leclercq-Ficher needs two more dual doubles wins for double-digits.
- Mize is one overall doubles wins away from a career season-high.
- Mize is also four overall doubles wins away from 40 in her career.
- Zadori is seven overall singles wins away from 50 and four dual singles wins for 30 in her ca-reer.
- Zadori is two dual doubles wins from 10 in her career.

REBS IN THE RANKINGS
Kareisova vaulted up 31 spots to No. 62 in the latest ITA Singles Rankings, announced on March 21. The Czechia native made the leap by going 4-0 in singles with two ranked wins in the last two weeks. Kareisova's stretch began, defeating current No. 32 Carolyn Ansari. She went on to take down No. 68 Carolina Gomez Alonso on Friday against Arkansas.

LIL AND KELS
The senior duo of Lillian Gabrielsen and Kelsey Mize is a strong No. 2 doubles pairing. Together, they are 9-6 overall, 7-3 in dual doubles and 3-3 in the conference. In Sunday's match against Florida, the pairing took down the 60th-ranked doubles team in the nation, Carly Briggs and Rachel Gailis, by a score of 6-4. It marked the Rebels first ranked doubles win of the season.

WEEKLY HONORS
Player of the Week:
Mary Stoiana - Texas A&M

Freshman of the Week:
DJ Bennett - Auburn

FRESHMAN SINGLES SUCCESS
The Rebels have seen dual singles success from their first-year players over the last three seasons. Two years ago, Reka Zadori came onto the scene, with the now junior going 9-4 from either the No. 5 or No. 6 position.

Last season was the same with three freshmen in Ludmila Kareisova, Rachel Krzyzak and Anaelle Leclercq-Ficher. Kareisova started 0-2 before going 10-8. Krzyzak and Leclercq-Ficher started 3-1 in their first four finished matches. Leclercq-Ficher, at one point, was 6-2, then ended 8-5. Krzyzak finished the year with a team-leading 13-6 dual singles record.

In 2023, Emma Kette is off to a 9-3 start and looks to continue the trend.

FOLLOW ON SOCIAL
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. Al-so, follow Coach Beyers on Twitter, @MarkBeyers.

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Players Mentioned

Lillian Gabrielsen

Emma Kette

Rachel Krzyzak

Kelsey Mize

Reka Zadori

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