It was nearly a perfect weekend for Ole Miss Tennis, as the men went 2-0 at the ITA Kickoff Weekend in Oxford, and the women pulled off an unlikely upset over highly ranked Michigan in the semi-final of the ITA Kickoff Weekend in Atlanta. 

The men’s tennis team scored a huge win on Sunday, as they beat N.C. State in the Oxford ITA Kickoff Regional Championship. After beating No. 22 Oklahoma in the semi-final 4-1, the Rebels got a slightly tougher contest from N.C. State, but still prevailed by a margin of 4-2. 

Just like Saturday’s match, Ole Miss had a comeback. N.C. State found themselves with a 2-1 lead, but that was quickly swallowed up as Lukas Engelhardt, Simon Junk and John Hallquist Lithén won their singles matches to give Ole Miss the victory. 

Once again, the heavyweight matchup featured No. 28 Nikola Slavic of Ole Miss against No. 36 Robin Catry and was won by the Rebel. It is interesting to note that Ole Miss was 0-2 in doubles play, but went 4-1 in singles, with the only loss being an upset of No. 44 Finn Reynolds at the hands of Martins Rocens. 

With this win, the Rebels now move on to the ITA National Indoor Championships in Seattle. Before heading to Seattle, Ole Miss must get past 0-3 Alcorn State on Tuesday to remain undefeated and keep their momentum rolling.

Despite success in the first half of the Atlanta ITA Kickoff Regional Championship, the women fell one win short of earning a spot in the 2022 ITA National Indoor Championships. 

The Rebels competed against Old Dominion, but were unable to find an edge and lost in a heart-stopping 4-3 contest. It was close all day, but the final game between Old Dominion’s No. 106 Alexandra Viktorovich and Ole Miss’s Ludmila Kareisova gave the Monarchs the title. 

The Rebels lost both doubles games that finished and came up short in both ranked singles matchups, as No. 71 Yulia Starodubtseva beat No. 20 Tiffany Fiquet and No. 116 Tatsiana Sasnouskaya beat No. 80 Sabina Machalova. The singles upsets were sinkers for the Rebels, who will look to rebound with strength in the upcoming rematch.

Despite Sunday’s disappointing loss, the impressive tournament performance and the huge upset against Michigan on Saturday will not go unnoticed. The Rebels will head to Texas Tech on Feb. 19, as they compete in their first true road test of the season. 

Men’s Results

Doubles

1. Finn Reynolds/Lukas Engelhardt vs. Collin Shick/Yannai Barkai (NCST), 5-5 (unfinished)
2. Martins Rocens/Fons Van Sambeek (NCST) def. Nikola Slavic/Simon Junk, 6-4
3. Robin Catry/Luca Staeheli (NCST) def. John Hallquist Lithén/Jakob Cadonau, 6-2

Singles

1. No. 28 Nikola Slavic def. No. 36 Robin Catry (NCST), 4-6, 7-6 (4), 6-1
2. Martins Rocens (NCST) def. No. 44 Finn Reynolds, 7-5, 3-6, 6-3
3. John Hallquist Lithén def. Luca Staheli (NCST), 7-6 (8), 7-6 (5)
4. Lukas Engelhardt def. Damien Salvestre (NCST), 2-6, 6-2, 7-5
5. Simon Junk def. Braden Shick (NCST), 4-6, 6-3, 6-1
6. Fons Van Sambeek (NCST) vs. Jan Soren Hain, 6-7 (5), 7-6 (5), 1-0

Women’s Results

Doubles

1 – No. 3 Yulia Starodubtseva/Tatsiana Sasnouskaya (Old Dominion) vs. Tiphanie Fiquet/Anaelle Leclercq-Ficher (Ole Miss) 6-5 (uf)

2 – Marina Alcaide/Shahar Biran (Old Dominion) def. Sabina Machalova/Rachel Krzyzak (Ole Miss) 6-1 (first)

3 – Alexandra Viktorovich/Alesya Yakubovich (Old Dominion) def. Lillian Gabrielsen/Kelsey Mize (Ole Miss) 7-6 (5) (second)

Singles

1 – No. 71 Yulia Starodubtseva (Old Dominion) def. No. 20 Tiphanie Fiquet (Ole Miss) 2-6, 6-1, 6-0 (second)

2 – No. 116 Tatsiana Sasnouskaya (Old Dominion) def. No. 80 Sabina Machalova (Ole Miss) 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 (third)

3 – Anaelle Leclercq-Ficher (Ole Miss) vs. Marina Alcaide (Old Dominion) 4-6, 6-2, 5-6 (wd) (fifth)

4 – No. 106 Alexandra Viktorovich (Old Dominion) def. Ludmila Kareisova (Ole Miss) 3-6, 7-6 (4), 6-3 (sixth)

5 – Reka Zadori (Ole Miss) def. Sofia Johnson (Old Dominion) 6-3, 6-3 (first)

6 – Rachel Krzyzak (Ole Miss) def. Alesya Yakubovich (Old Dominion) 6-4, 6-7 (3), 6-0 (fourth)