Ole Miss Tops Lady'Backs on hard courts

FAYETTEVILLE— The University of Arkansas women’s tennis team showed fight, but the University of Mississippi Lady Rebels handed the Lady Razorbacks their third loss of the season at the UA Varsity Courts Sunday afternoon, 7-0. Before the match, the Lady’Backs clung to an opportunity of winning the Western Division with just a 0-1 record in divisional play. However, Ole Miss doused the title hopes and proved why they sit in a close second in the Western Division standings as Arkansas falls to 10-8(0-8) for the year. The Lady Razorbacks looked solid in doubles play, but Maryori Franco and Karina Ledaja retired on court two to give the Lady Rebels the doubles advantage. In singles, Franco battled back after dropping the first set, 6-2, to Ole Miss’s Virginia Tomatis by owning the second set, 6-1. The match was forced to a super tiebreaker that was controlled by a consistent Tomatis, who won the decider, 10-8. On court one, Vlatka Jovanovic squared off against Chloe Carlotti, marking her fifth consecutive opponent ranked 60 or higher. The first set slipped away from Jovanovic, 6-3, but the Zagreb, Croatia native evened the score with a 6-4 win in the second. Another super tiebreaker ensued in which Jovanovic jumped out to a 5-2 lead with several long rallies ending in her favor. Carlotti played aggressively at the net in the next few points to give her the momentum needed for a tiebreaker win. “I was very pleased with our efforts today,” said head coach Michael Hegarty. “We will be a better team because of this.” The Lady’Back netters are back in action next Friday, April 8th, against Alabama at 5:00 p.m. and again on Sunday, April 10, against unranked Auburn. For more information, please visit www.ladybacks.com.Tennis Match ResultsMississippi vs. University of ArkansasApr 03, 2005 at Fayetteville, ArkansasMississippi 7, University of Arkansas 0Singles competition: 1. Chloe Carlotti (UM) def. Vlatka Jovanovic (UA) 6-3, 4-6, 1-0(5) 2. Ilona Somers (UM) def. Karina Ledaja (UA) 6-4, 4-4, retired3. Nika Koukhartchouk (UM) def. Iliana Pacheco (UA) 6-0, 6-14. Virginia Tomatis (UM) def. Maryori Franco (UA) 6-2, 1-6, 1-0(8) 5. Mimi Renaudin (UM) def. Melissa Cornett (UA) 6-1, 6-06. Preethi Subramanian (UM) def. Audrey Bordeleau (UA) 6-0, 6-2Doubles competition: 1. Chloe Carlotti/Virginia Tomatis (UM) def. Melissa Cornett/Vlatka Jovanovic (UA) 8-52. Ilona Somers/Mimi Renaudin (UM) def. Maryori Franco/Karina Ledaja (UA) 4-4, retired3. Nika Koukhartchouk/Preethi Subramanian (UM) def. Audrey Bordeleau/Iliana Pacheco (UA) 8-3