Women’s Tennis vs Missouri
OXFORD, Miss. – If you are not going out of town for Spring Break, join the Ole Miss women’s tennis team at the Palmer/Salloum Tennis Center, as they begin a five match homestand this weekend with matches against Tennessee and No. 12 Georgia.
The Rebels will host Tennessee Friday at 3 p.m., and fans will receive a free Ole Miss Tennis mug. Sunday, the Rebels will welcome Georgia at 1 p.m. and fans will get a free “Baby Got Backhand” tank top while supplies last as well as enjoy free ice cream sundaes between doubles and singles. Fans will also get a Julia Jones collector poster this weekend.
Ole Miss comes into the weekend at 5-3 overall and in search of their first SEC win. The Rebels are coming off consecutive losses to No. 23 Auburn and No. 10 Alabama on the road.
The Rebels are led by junior Julia Jones’ 16-6 overall record, 5-2 in dual matches. She also teams with freshman Zalina Khairudinova for a 9-1 overall record, 6-1 at No. 3 doubles.
“We are excited to return home for five straight matches,” head coach Mark Beyers said. “Even though we lost both matches last weekend, we had chances, especially against Auburn. We were up in the doubles, and if we get that maybe it’s a different outcome. We had great a meeting with the girls after the match, and talked about some things we can work on to get better. They are ready for this weekend. Both Tennessee and Georgia are consistently two of the top teams in the league, and we are looking forward to another challenging SEC weekend.”
Tennessee enters the second weekend of conference play at 4-5 overall, 0-1 in the SEC. The Lady Vols lost to Georgia (7-0) in both team’s opening league match last Saturday. Tennessee is led by freshman Eve Repic, who is ranked No. 55 in the nation with a 6-3 record at No. 1 singles.
Georgia comes in ranked No. 12 with a 7-2 overall record, 1-0 in the SEC after their win over Tennessee last weekend. The Bulldogs boast four players in the top 40 led by 10th-ranked Lauren Herring, who is 7-1 at No. 1 singles. Herring also teams with Maho Kowase to form the No. 2 doubles team in the country.
Senior Caroline Rohde-Moe has been around the league and understands the advantage of playing at home, where the Rebels are currently 4-0 this year.
“It’s exciting to be back home,” she said. “We played two tough opponents on the road last weekend. It’s such an advantage to play at home. Even though the scores didn’t show it, I still feel like we were in the matches for a long time. We are a good team, we just have to improve on the little things to become a great team.”
Admission to all home matches is free.