Owen Pustell
The Ole Miss women’s tennis team fought hard on Friday, but were unable to come away with a win as the Baylor Bears edged them out 4-3.
The Rebels took care of business and won the doubles point 2-0.
Anaelle Leclercq-Ficher and Ludmila Kareisova of Ole Miss took on Daniella Dimitrov and Paula Baranano, winning 6-2 to give the Rebels their first point of the day.
The second doubles match pitted Kelse Mize and Lillian Gabrielson of Ole Miss against Anita Sahdiieva and Alina Shcherbinina. The Rebels took this point as well and locked up the doubles point early.
Reka Zadori and Emma Kette of Ole Miss faced off against Danielle Tuhten and Isabella Harvison in the third doubles match, but it was never finished.
The first single match to finish was the sixth slot, which had Kette against Dimitrov. Kette was able to confidently win by a score of 6-2, 6-0 and put the Rebels up 2-0 early.
The second match to finish was Mize against Baranano in the fourth singles spot. Baranano won Baylor their first point of the day by a score of 6-2, 6-3 and prevented the Rebels from sweeping.
The third match to finish had Leclercq-Ficher taking on Shcherbinina. Shcherbinina collected the point after winning 6-2, 6-4 and tied the game for the Baylor Bears.
The fourth match to finish out had Kareisova against Harvison. Harvison took the point for Baylor by a score of 6-3, 6-2 and gave the Bears a 3-2 lead.
With the contest on the line, Zadori defeated Tuhten in the fifth singles spot by a score of 6-1, 7-5 to tie the total score at 3-3. The Rebels did a great job of showing their depth by winning the doubles, fifth spot and sixth spot.
The third singles spot would end up deciding the contest. Gabrielson took on Sahdiieva in a heart-stopping contest that scored 7-6(1), 4-6, 6-6 with Sahdiieva collecting the final point and the contest win.
With this loss, Ole Miss lost their undefeated start while Baylor continued their hot start.
