Mississippi Julia Jones hits the ball in a match against Texas A&M in Oxford, Miss., Sunday, March 29, 2015. (DM Photo | Jason Zhang)
The 21st ranked Ole Miss women’s tennis team fell to LSU by the score of 4-2 Friday evening at the Gillom Sports Center. It was the third straight loss for the Rebels, who fell to 11-7 overall (3-6 SEC). LSU improved to 13-7 overall (3-4 SEC).
The match began outdoors starting with singles, but rain forced play to move indoors. The doubles portion was not played after the Tigers clinched the win.
The first match to finish was No. 2 singles, with Rebel junior Mai El Kamash falling in straight sets to LSU junior Skylar Kuykendall 4-6, 1-6.
Senior Julia Jones, ranked 14th in the country, defeated Tiger sophomore Joana Vale Costa 6-4, 6-7, 6-0 for her 97th career victory at No. 1 singles.
Freshman Natalie Suk won at No. 3 singles 7-6, 1-6, 7-5 over LSU sophomore Abby Owens. At No. 4 singles, senior Erin Stephens lost 1-6, 4-6 to Tiger senior Noel Scott. Sophomore Zalina Khairudinova lost to LSU junior Ella Taylor 4-6, 6-2, 0-6 at No. 5. Finally at No. 6, senior Iris Verboven fell to Tiger sophomore Skylar Holloway 6-2, 2-6, 1-6.
The Rebels’ losing streak reached four games Sunday afternoon as they fought hard but ultimately fell to 15th ranked Texas A&M 4-2 at the Palmer/Salloum Tennis Center. The Rebels fell to 11-8 on the season (3-7 SEC), while the Aggies improved to 10-4 overall (7-2 SEC).
“I felt like we fought a lot better,” Ole Miss head coach Mark Beyers said. “We played with a lot more energy. Compared to Friday, our effort level and our toughness were much better. That’s hopefully something we can build on.”
Ole Miss started the match off well, winning the doubles portion of the match. Senior Iris Verboven and junior Marija Milutinovic clinched the point at No. 3 for the Rebels, defeating Aggie juniors Stefania Hristov and Anna Mamalat 8-7. Verboven and Milutinovic won the tiebreaker 7-3 after the match was played to a 7-7 score.
At No. 2 doubles, junior Mai El Kamash and senior Erin Stephens defeated Aggie sophomores Saska Gavrilovska and Rutuja Bhosale 8-5. Freshman Natalie Suk and senior Julia Jones lost to Aggie freshman Eva Paalma and sophomore Rachel Pierson 4-8 at No. 1 doubles.
The lead wouldn’t last as the Aggies won four of the six singles matches.
Sophomore Zalina Khairudinova fell to Mamalat at No. 5 singles 1-6, 3-6. At No. 1 singles, 14th ranked Jones took care of Pierson 6-3, 6-3 for her 98th career win, but the run of success would not continue.
At No. 2 singles, El Kamash fell to Bhosale 4-6, 4-6. Verboven rallied from a 1-5 deficit in the third set to get within 4-5 against Hristov but would end up falling 6-3, 3-6, 4-6. Suk was defeated by Gavrilovska 6-3, 5-7, 4-6, clinching the win for the Aggies.
“We have to take some of those positives and learn from them,” Beyers said.
The Rebels are back on the court against Georgia at 4 p.m. Friday in Athens.
