Seniors Kristi Boxx, Abby Guthrie And Gabby Rangel were honored prior to the match. UM photo by Nathan Latil.
OXFORD, Miss. — The No. 16 nationally ranked Ole Miss women’s tennis team shut out Kentucky 7-0 here Sunday on Senior Day at the Palmer/Salloum Tennis Center/Galtney Courts. With the win, the Rebels improved to 15-7 overall and 7-3 in the SEC.
The Rebels concluded the regular season 6-1 at home and have won four in a row and five of their last six. Ole Miss will host the SEC Women’s Tennis Championship April 19-22.
Prior to the match, the Rebels honored seniors Kristi Boxx, Abby Guthrie and Gabby Rangel. The trio has been a huge part of getting the Rebels back to national prominence, and after the match head coach Mark Beyers talked about what they’ve meant to the program.
Once the festivities were finished, the team got down to business, taking the doubles point with wins on all three courts.
Boxx and Guthrie won 8-3 at No. 1 to record their 18th win at No. 1 doubles and improve to 9-1 in the SEC. Rangel teamed with freshman Erin Stephens to win their match 8-1 at No. 2. Iris Verboven and Julia Jones won their second in a row, 8-2 at No. 3.
In singles, it was the seniors who recorded the first wins to make it 3-0 Ole Miss. Guthrie came off the court first downing Stephanie Fox 6-2, 6-1 at No. 5 singles to move to 9-1 in the SEC. Boxx followed it up with a 6-2, 6-2 win at No. 1 singles against Jessica Stiles. She is now 8-1 in the SEC, and as Beyers noted, she became the second player in school history to record 200 combined wins in singles and doubles.
Sophomore Vivian Vlaar made it official, with a 6-2, 6-2 win against UK’s CeCe Witten at No. 6 singles to give the Rebels their fifth consecutive win against Kentucky.
Caroline Rohde Moe won 6-4, 6-0 at No. 2 singles, Julia Jones won 6-3, 6-2 at No. 4, and then Stephens finished it off 7-6(4), 6-4 at No. 3.
The Rebels will conclude the regular season at Mississippi State Saturday at Noon.