University of Washington
Ole Miss
Huskies Grab Another Top-20 Upset In Home Opener
February 11, 2011 | Women's Tennis
Feb. 11, 2011
SEATTLE - Andjela Nemcevic had quite an introduction to her new home courts and the Husky faithful this afternoon. The freshman broke a 3-3 tie with a stirring three set victory to give the 23rd-ranked Husky women's tennis team the win over 16th-ranked Ole Miss at the Nordstrom Tennis Center. It is already the third win over a Top-20 team this season for the Huskies (6-1), all by 4-3 counts, as UW put its toughness on display yet again, and for the first time at home.
Senior Venise Chan's victory at second singles tied the score up at 3-3, with Nemcevic trying to put away Mississippi's Abby Guthrie late in the second set. A native of Belgrade, Serbia, Nemcevic had come back from an 0-3 hole to take the first set, 6-4, and she then had a chance to serve for the match, up 6-5 in the second set. Nemcevic had a match point at that point, but Guthrie saved it, and rallied back to force a tiebreak, which she won, 7-3.
That meant the two were on to a third set, already knowing the full outcome rested on their shoulders. Guthrie broke serve to open the third set, but Nemcevic broke right back to get even. At 3-3, Nemcevic worked hard to hold serve, and then opened a 5-3 lead with a service break. Long after her first match point, Nemcevic found herself up 40-0 with three more on her racket, and she cashed in the second one when Guthrie sailed a groundstroke long.
"I love this match today because it comes down to 3-all, then you have such a great match out on the court," said Head Coach Jill Hultquist. "If we'd lost, I would have said `wow, what a hard-fought match.' We won, so it's an extra bonus. I love those kind of matches right there, I'm glad I'm not playing them, but I love them."
In a battle of Top-25 singles players, sixth-ranked junior Denise Dy dominated 21st-ranked Kristi Boxx, 6-1, 6-1, to improve to 7-0 in dual play. That gave the Huskies a 2-1 lead, but Ole Miss came right back with two more wins down the lineup. At sixth singles, Vivian Vlaar held off Aleksandra Krsljanin, 6-4, 6-2. Then junior Samantha Smith fell short against Caroline Rohde-Moe, 6-3, 6-0.
At second singles, senior Venise Chan battled a determined Connor Vogel, who did her best impression of a wall all afternoon and forced Chan to dictate. Chan took the first set, 6-4, then got the critical break at 2-2 in the second set. With the 124th-ranked Vogel serving, Chan had at least a half dozen break points in a marathon game before she finally broke through. From there she pulled away for the 6-3 set win, to square the team score at 3-3. Chan also moves to 7-0 in singles play to match Dy's record.
The win was a big response for the Huskies after suffering their first loss of the year last weekend, 4-3, at University of San Diego.
"The girls were a little down after the San Diego match and we were trying to get their confidence up again; they came out fighting in singles and it was awesome," said Hultquist.
Washington picked up the doubles point for just the third time this season, evening its record at 3-3 in doubles play. Chan and Dy moved to 10-0 for the year, and picked up yet another win over a ranked duo, defeating 22nd-ranked Boxx and Guthrie, 8-4. It came down to No. 2 doubles after Ole Miss took the No. 3 match, 8-1. Playing their first doubles match together, Smith and junior transfer Adrijana Pavlovic took a 7-3 lead over Vogel and Rangel. The Rebel pair got one break back and held to make it 7-6, but Pavlovic served it out for UW to take the 1-0 lead.
The Huskies will be back on their home courts on Sunday for a 10 a.m. dual against 41st-ranked St. Mary's. Then it's off to the ITA National Team Indoor Championships next weekend at the University of Virginia.
Washington Women's Tennis
Nordstrom Tennis Center - Seattle, Wash.
February 11, 2011
No. 23 Washington 4; No. 16 Ole Miss 3
Doubles
1. Dy/Chan (UW) def. (22) Boxx/Guthrie (Miss), 8-4
2. Pavlovic/Smith (UW) def. Vogel/Rangel (Miss), 8-6
3. Rohde-Moe/van de Stroet (Miss) def. Nemcevic/Xu (UW), 8-1
Order of finish: 3, 1, 2
Singles
1. (6) Denise Dy (UW) def. (21) Kristi Boxx (Miss), 6-1, 6-1
2. (55) Venise Chan (UW) def. (124) Connor Vogel (Miss), 6-4, 6-3
3. Caroline Rohde-Moe (Miss) def. Samantha Smith (UW), 6-3, 6-0
4. Andjela Nemcevic (UW) def. Abby Guthrie (Miss), 6-4, 6-7 (3), 6-3
5. Laura van de Stroet (Miss) def. Lina Xu (UW), 6-0, 6-0
6. Vivian Vlaar (Miss) def. Aleksandra Krsljanin (UW), 6-4, 6-2
Order of finish: 5, 1, 6, 3, 2, 4
Players Mentioned
