Arianne Hartono hits the ball during a match against Auburn Sunday. DM Photo | Logan Kirlkland
The 16th-ranked Ole Miss women’s tennis team won a tightly contested match against the 31st-ranked Auburn Tigers 4-3 Sunday evening at the Palmer/Salloum Tennis Center. The Rebels improved to 11-4, 3-3 in the Southeastern Conference, while the Tigers fell to 11-5, 1-4 in the SEC.
“It was pretty dramatic with all the tiebreakers,” Ole Miss head coach Mark Beyers said.
Ole Miss fell in the opening doubles portion of the match, giving Auburn the first point. Senior Julia Jones and freshman Natalie Suk got the Rebels on the board with an 8-3 win over Tiger sophomore Reka Muller and senior Jen Pfeifler. However, seniors Erin Stephens and Iris Verboven fell 3-8 to Auburn junior Pleun Burgmans and senior Emily Flickinger. Freshman Arianne Hartono and junior Mai El Kamash fell to Auburn juniors Michala Kucharova and Paula de Man 6-8 after taking an early 3-0 lead to start the match.
The Rebels were not fazed, as they battled to win four of the six singles matches. Twelfth ranked Jones dispatched of 74th ranked Burgmans 6-1, 6-4 at the singles match on court one. El Kamash easily defeated Flickinger 6-2, 6-1 at No. 3 singles. At No. 4, Suk beat Miller 6-3, 6-4. At No. 5, Stephens lost to de Man 2-6, 2-6.
“We were able to win a couple of quick singles matches, which was impressive because they were all good players,” Beyers said.
It was the intense No. 2 and No. 6 matches that provided the drama.
At No. 2 singles, Hartono came from behind against Auburn freshman Andie Dikosavljevic 2-4 in the first set to tie it at 4 before forcing a tiebreaker at 6-6. Hartono would eventually fall 5-7 in the tiebreaker to lose the set 6-7. The second set again went to a tiebreaker at 6-6, where Hartono would fall 3-7 to lose the match 6-7, 6-7.
With the match tied 3-3, it was up to Rebel sophomore Zalina Khairudinova to clinch the win for the Rebels at No. 6 singles. The first set of her match with Pfeifler went to a tiebreaker at 6-6, with Khairudinova winning the tiebreaker 7-5. The second set also went to a tiebreaker, but this time Khairudinova fell 6-7. The third set was much easier, however, as Khairudinova took advantage of her opponent’s cramping to win 6-2 and seal the victory for the Rebels.
“Every time I won a point, I looked over at my teammates, and they said ‘Come on Z, you can do it,’, and it gave me more energy,” Khairudinova said. “I kept thinking I have to do it for my team because we deserve it.”
“Every win in the SEC is very precious, so to be able to have three at this point in the season, we’ll take it,” Beyers said.
The Rebels are back in action against Florida at 4 p.m. Friday in Gainesville, Florida.
