No. 27 MSU Women’s Tennis Falls To No. 6 Ole Miss

Friday, April 13

Starkville

4:00 PM

Mississippi State

Ole Miss

Sophomore Sara Lizariturry provided State's lone point Friday against No. 6 Ole Miss.

Photo by: Trevor Birchett/MSU Athletics

No. 27 MSU Women’s Tennis Falls To No. 6 Ole Miss

April 13, 2018 | Women's Tennis

STARKVILLE, Miss. – Despite a valiant rally effort in singles, the 27th-ranked Mississippi State women's tennis team (15-9, 6-7 SEC) could not overcome No. 6 Ole Miss (18-5, 9-4 SEC) Friday, falling 4-1 at the A.J. Pitts Tennis Centre to close out its 2018 regular season slate.

"Everyone definitely put their hearts into this match," head coach Daryl Greenan said. "The desire and intensity were definitely there. We just weren't able to raise our level at key moments, but I am proud of our effort. We just needed to capitalize on opportunities more often. Ole Miss came in with a high ranking and a lot of confidence so credit to them for handling our efforts today. Wins and losses aside I feel like our girls are playing with great intensity and are still hungry for wins. We will carry that into the SEC tournament next week and post season play."

The Rebels held off an MSU comeback attempt in doubles to open the afternoon. On court 3, UM's Natalie Suk and Anna Vrbenska downed Bulldogs Sara Lizariturry and Anastasia Rentouli 6-3. Ole Miss' Tea Jandric and Sabina Machalova outlasted State's Magda Adaloglou and Janina Braun 6-4 at No. 2 to clinch the doubles point and give UM an early 1-0 lead. The remaining match was knotted 5-all between MSU's 74^th-ranked Madison Harrison and Khrystyna Vozniak and UM's fifth-ranked Alexa Bortles and Arianne Hartono on court 1.

The Bulldogs did their best to get back into the match in singles, splitting the six first sets. But the Rebels would ultimately claim the three matches they had established leads in to clinch the match.

First off the courts at the No. 1 position, UM's 11th-ranked Hartono overpowered State's Harrison, 6-3, 6-1, extending the Ole Miss lead to 2-0. On court 2, the Rebels' 80th-ranked Machalova fended of a spirited effort from MSU's Braun 6-4, 6-2 to establish a 3-0 lead for UM.

Providing the Bulldogs lone point of the day, Lizariturry fought off UM's Suk 6-1, 7-6(4) on court 5. The Rebels led 3-1.

But Ole Miss would respond when Jandric completed a 6-3, 6-3, victory over the State freshman Adaloglou on court 3 to secure the 4-1 triumph for Ole Miss.

The remaining two matches were suspended with the Bulldogs holding set leads in both. On court 4, MSU's Rentouli was up on UM's Vrbenska 6-2, 4-4. At No. 6, State's Vozniak held a 6-3, 5-5 lead against the Rebels' Bortles.

Next Up For MSU…

The Bulldogs will prepare for the 2018 SEC Championship, being held in Knoxville, Tenn., April 18-22. The draw for the tournament will be released at the conclusion of all league play this weekend.

For more information on the Mississippi State women's tennis program, follow "HailStateWT" on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

No. 6 Ole Miss 4, No. 27 Mississippi State 1
A.J. Pitts Tennis Centre
Starkville, Miss.
April 13, 2018

Doubles
1. No. 74 Madison Harrison/Khrystyna Vozniak (MSU) vs. No. 5 Alexa Bortles/Arianne Hartono (UM) 5-5 (susp.)
2. Tea Jandric/Sabina Machalova (UM) def. Magda Adaloglou/Janina Braun (MSU) 6-4
3. Natalie Suk/Anna Vrbenska (UM) def. Sara Lizariturry/Anastasia Rentouli (MSU) 6-3
Order of finish: 3, 2

Singles
1. No. 11 Arianne Hartono (UM) def. Madison Harrison (MSU) 6-3, 6-1
2. No. 80 Sabina Machalova (UM) def. Janina Braun (MSU) 6-4, 6-2
3. Tea Jandric (UM) def. Magda Adaloglou (MSU) 6-3, 6-3
4. Anastasia Rentouli (MSU) vs. Anna Vrbenska (UM) 6-2, 4-4 (susp.)
5. Sara Lizariturry (MSU) def. Natalie Suk (UM) 6-1, 7-6(4)
6. Khrystyna Vozniak (MSU) vs. Alexa Bortles (UM) 6-3, 5-5 (susp.)
Order of finish: 1, 2, 5, 3