Under high-60s and sunny skies for most of the match, the No. 15 Ole Miss women’s tennis team shut out Lipscomb in its home opener Friday at the Palmer/Salloum Tennis Center.
Lipscomb only had five available players, so the Rebels won the No. 3 doubles match by default, and then Natalie Suk and Anna Vrbenska claimed the No. 2 match 6-0 to secure the opening point for the Rebels.
With Lipscomb not having a No. 6 player, the Rebels led 2-0 at the start of singles play.
Sophomore Allie Sanford quickly made it 3-0 as she dominated Jaclyn Findlay 6-0, 6-0 at No. 5 singles.
In a nationally ranked matchup at the top spot, No. 58 Arianne Hartono defeated No. 73 Viktoriya Dzyuba 6-3, 6-1 to clinch the win.
Several Rebels got to play their first match in front of the home crowd, including redshirt freshman Tereza Janatova, who topped Thabile Tshatedi 6-2, 6-0 at No. 4 singles. Another freshman, Vrbenska closed out Lipscomb’s Hannah Gamage 6-2, 7-5 at No. 2 singles to make it 6-0 Rebels.
Freshman Alexa Bortles showed why she will be one of the ones to watch for years to come, moving up to No. 3 singles and taking out Denise Buberl 7-6, 6-2.
“It was great to finally be at home and play in front of our fans. It was tough playing outdoors again after having been indoors for the last few weeks. We definitely need these type of matches in order to get ourselves ready for SEC competition,” head coach Mark Beyers said.
The Rebels continue a four-match homestand at 1 p.m. Feb. 25 against Memphis at the Palmer/Salloum Tennis Center.
At the net…
• The Rebels improved to 8-2 on the year
• This marked the fifth shutout of the year for the Rebels
• The Rebels have won the doubles point in eight of 10 matches now
• Junior Arianne Hartono improved to 11-6 overall, 6-3 at No. 1 singles
• Three Rebels made their home debut: Freshmen Tereza Janatova, Alexa Bortles and Anna Vrbenska
• Bortles remained undefeated this season at 6-0
Complete results
Doubles
1. Hartono/Vrbenska (OM) vs. Dzyuba/Buberl (LU) 1-3, sus.
2. Suk/Bortles (OM) def. Gamage/Tshatedi (LU) 6-0
3. Jandric/Khairudinova (OM) won by default
Order of Finish: 3, 2
Singles
1. No. 58 Arianne Hartono (OM) def. No. 73 Viktoriya Dzyuba (LU) 6-3, 6-1
2. Anna Vrbenska (OM) def. Hannah Gamage (LU) 6-2, 7-5
3. Alexa Bortles (OM) def. Denise Buberl (LU) 7-6, 6-2
4. Tereza Janatova (OM) def. Thabile Tshatedi (LU) 6-2, 6-0
5. Allie Sanford (OM) def. Jaclyn Findlay (LU) 6-0, 6-0
6. Brooke Stevens (OM) won by default
Order of Finish: 6, 5, 1, 4, 2, 3
