No. 35 Razorbacks Outlast No. 45 Ole Miss, 4-3
OXFORD, Miss. – The No. 35 University of Arkansas women’s tennis team defeated No. 45 Ole Miss in a 4-3 decision on Friday afternoon. The Razorbacks improve to 14-7 overall and 7-4 in conference play, their most SEC wins since 2017.
Ole Miss got the hot start in doubles play, claiming the point with wins on courts two and three. The No. 37 duo of Morgan Cross and Tatum Rice were tied up 4-4 on court one against before the doubles point was clinched.
The Razorbacks once against rallied in singles play, taking the first set on three courts. Graduate student Tatum Rice wasted no time on court one, taking down Ole Miss’ No. 49 Sabina Machalova in straight sets 6-4, 6-1 to get the first singles to win for Arkansas. Rice gets her second straight ranked win of the weekend to improve to 10-7 in the No. 1 position and 6-6 against nationally-ranked opponents.
Ole Miss took the next two matches on courts four and three to take the lead, but Kelly Keller struck back to put the Razorbacks within one with a 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 win on court two over Anaelle Leclercq. Keller went undefeated on the weekend to improve to 4-5 at the No. 2 position for Arkansas.
Sophomore Morgan Cross tied the match up at 3-3 with a three-set 6-3, 3-6, 7-5 win on court five over Ole Miss’ Lillian Gabrielsen. All eyes turned to court six where senior Laura Rijkers was up 5-0 in the third set.
Rijkers closed it out 6-1 in the third set to clinch the match win for the Razorbacks over Elysia Pool. The Razorbacks have now won seven SEC matches, their most conference wins since 2017.
The Razorbacks are back in action next weekend to close out the regular season against SEC leader Texas A&M on Friday, April 15, and LSU on Sunday, April 17 where the two seniors will be honored on Senior Night.
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