The Rebels women’s tennis team traveled to Baton Rouge, La., for its first SEC matchup of the season against No. 8 LSU Tigers on Sunday, Feb. 23. The Lady Rebels dropped to 0-1 in conference play after their 5-2 loss against the Tigers. 

Ole Miss started with three matches for its doubles, including duo partners Anaelle Leclercq-Ficher and Ludmila Kareisova, Emily Welker and Brooklyn Olson and Lucie Petruzelova and Andrea Nova. 

The Lady Rebels lost in their doubles, giving the Lady Tigers a leg up in getting to four wins.

While Ole Miss had some close matches in the first game of the singles round, they later fell far behind. 

Welker went against LSU’s Kayla Cross for a match that only lasted two rounds. Welker was swept 6-2 and 6-3 in these rounds. 

Kareisova struggled to find her game as she went down 6-0 in the first round against LSU’s Tilwith Di Girolami. She also lost the second round 6-2 and, like Welker, was swept.  

Petruzelova played competitively against her opponent, Anita Sahdiieva, as this match went into the third round. Petruzelova ultimately dropped the match 7-4.

Freshman Alice Soulie and Senior Rachel Krzyzak won their first round, which kept Ole Miss in the game. 

Despite the effort, Ole Miss ended up going down 3-1 with three matches left to play. The Lady Rebels’ only win was Soulie, who swept her opponent Kinaa Graham in the first two rounds. 

Krzyzak ended up winning her match and gave the Rebels their second win. Nova also dropped the sixth match and was swept 6-2 and 6-4 by her opponent Kenna Erickson. 

What’s next?

Ole Miss will travel to Starkville, Miss., to face Mississippi State on Friday, March 7 at 5 p.m.