Arianne Hartono prepares to serve in game against Vanderbilt. (Photo by: Ariel Cobbert)
The Ole Miss Women’s tennis team has a big week ahead of them. Coming into this week, the Rebels have a record of 9-9 overall and are 2-7 in conference play.
The Rebels are coming into this week limping, having lost their last four matches, all of which were SEC matches, including a loss against rival Mississippi State.
This is a crucial week for Ole Miss, as it is the last week of regular season before the SEC tournament starts. The Rebels begin the week with a match against Arkansas State. Arkansas State has struggled mightily this year and has not won a match, possessing a record of 0-17. Most of the matches the Red Wolves have played haven’t been competitive. Arkansas State does, however, have a solid singles player in Julie Gauguery. At the end of the day, though, this should be a relatively easy match for the Rebels to pick up a victory to begin this three-match week.
Look for Ole Miss to strike early with a win in doubles and never let up. The Rebels won’t have much down time before they take on the Arkansas Razorbacks in Arkansas. Arkansas is currently 16-10 overall and 5-6 in the SEC. The Razorbacks are on a two-match losing streak. Their last two matches have been 4-3 heartbreaking losses to Kentucky and Vanderbilt. Don’t be deceived by Arkansas’ losing conference record. Arkansas is a good team.
Man El Kamash returns a serve in game against Vanderbilt. (Photo by: Ariel Cobbert)
Arkansas has a talented singles player in Yuliya Lysa. Lysa is ranked No. 34 in the nation and has several victories over other ranked opponents. Lysa will face off against Ole Miss’ best singles player Arianne Hartono, who is ranked No. 29 in the country. This match alone will be worth the price of admission. Hartono will pull this one out. The doubles point will be critical in this match. Arkansas boasts one of the best doubles lineup in the SEC, led by their No. 1 doubles team of Yuliya Lysa and Shannon Hudson. Ole Miss also has a strong No. 1 doubles team in Arianne Hartono and Mai El Kamash. This will likely be the most crucial point of the match.
Whichever team wins the doubles point will more than likely go on to win the match. After its home matches with the Red Wolves and Razorbacks, Ole Miss will hit the road to play Missouri in Columbia. Missouri is 15-10 overall and 2-9 in SEC play. The Tigers have lost their last three matches, and will look to get a win against Mississippi State earlier in the week before taking on Ole Miss. Missouri has not fared well in SEC play, and this should be a match the Rebels look to take advantage of as they jostle for position for the SEC tournament.
My prediction: The Rebels will go 2-1 on the week in its three matches and garner some momentum going into the SEC Tournament.
