Women's Tennis Takes Down Ole Miss, 4-3
3/10/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
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TUSCALOOSA, Ala. ?? Down a break point in the final match of the evening, Alabama’s Mari Muller broke Ole Miss’ Ilona Somers to pull even then clinched the win in a third-set tiebreaker to give the Crimson Tide its second consecutive Southeastern Conference victory.
“I just wanted it really bad for the team,” Muller said. “It’s a heart thing. We worked so hard everyday and that’s why we play tennis, for a match like this.”
Muller trailed Somers 5-3 in the third set, but fought back to even the match at 5-5. The tiebreaker then saw three ties and two lead changes, however Muller never trailed. Finally, Muller beat Somers down the line to her left for the win, 6-2, 1-6, 7-6(5).
“It took a lot of heart to win this match today,” Alabama head coach Jenny Mainz said. “We played with heart. I’m proud of how we fought back and it says a lot about the character of this team.”
The win marks the first time this season that Alabama (4-5, 2-1 SEC) has fought back to win after losing the doubles point.
Momentum swung the Tide’s way early in singles. Alabama won the opening set in four singles matches and saw freshman Sofia Ayala win her second set to force a third.
Seventh-ranked Robin Stephenson started the Alabama rally by defeating Virginia Tomatis, 6-1, 6-1. Ole Miss’ Kseniia Tokarieva and Mimi Renaudin then put the Rebels on the verge of victory, but within seconds of each other Shelley Godwin and Ashley Bentley finished things off on their courts to even the match at 3-3 and it was left all up to Muller, who has now won seven of her last eight matches.
Next, ??Bama will host Mississippi State at 1 p.m. on Sunday. At 2-1 in the SEC, the Tide sits alone atop the SEC’s Western Division.
Tennis Match Results
Ole Miss vs Alabama
Mar 10, 2006 at Tuscaloosa, Ala.
#39 Alabama 4, #33 Ole Miss 3
Singles competition:
1. #7 Robin Stephenson (UA) def. Virginia Tomatis (UM) 6-1, 6-1
2. #87 Ashley Bentley (UA) def. Nika Koukhartchouk (UM) 7-6 (7-3), 6-2
3. Mari Muller (UA) def. Ilona Somers (UM) 6-2, 1-6, 7-6 (7-5)
4. Kseniia Tokarieva (UM) def. Andrea Brenes (UA) 6-2, 6-1
5. Shelley Godwin (UA) def. Preethi Subramanian (UM) 6-3, 6-2
6. Mimi Renaudin (UM) def. Sofia Ayala (UA) 6-2, 2-6, 6-2
Doubles competition:
1. #43 Virginia Tomatis/Ilona Somers (UM) def. #15 Robin Stephenson/Ashley Bentley (UA) 8-3
2. Nika Koukhartchouk/Kseniia Tokarieva (UM) def. Mari Muller/Melissa Day (UA) 8-5
3. Natalie McElveen/Andrea Brenes (UA) def. Preethi Subramanian/Mimi Renaudin (UM) 8-3
Match Notes:
Order of finish: Doubles (3,1,2); Singles (1,4,6,5,2,3)
