Stephen F. Austin
No. 3 Ole Miss
Ladyjacks Hit the Road to Face No. 3 Ole Miss and Memphis in Final February Matches
2/23/2018 9:56:00 AM | Women's Tennis
SFA (0-5) goes in search of its first wins before Southland Conference play begins
Match Six
Stephen F. Austin (0-5) at No. 3 Ole Miss (7-1)
Saturday, Feb. 24 | Noon | Palmer/Salorum Tennis Center | Oxford, Miss.
Watch
Match Seven
Stephen F. Austin (0-5) at Memphis (6-4)
Sunday, Feb. 25 | 9:00 a.m. | Racquet Club of Memphis | Memphis, Tenn.
FIRST SERVE
• For its final pair of matches in the month of February, the Stephen F. Austin tennis team heads east to take on No. 3-ranked Ole Miss on Saturday at noon before traveling north to Memphis in order to face the Tigers at 9:00 a.m.
• The Ladyjacks are in search of their first win of the season after falling to Northeastern State last Sunday evening at the Schlief Tennis Complex by a 4-3 tally.
• For a third consecutive outing, the Ladyjacks' number-two doubles team of Gabi Guilarte and Siân Payne emerged victorious. That pair owns a perfect 3-0 record in tandem play and has accounted for all but two of SFA's doubles wins this spring. Guilarte and Payne are also one of just four doubles teams in the Southland Conference who are 3-0.
• Nida Kamal and Darinka Tiboldi have been holding down the number-one doubles line for the Ladyjacks and the pair possesses a 2-1 record to show for their efforts this season.
COACHES COMMENTS | SFA HEAD COACH JON McLAUGHLIN
"When you think it couldn't get any tougher for us, we go to the number-three team in the nation who has four top 20 wins so far this year. Ole Miss is a great team that will have a shot at an SEC title this season and we have to see this as an opportunity to play loose and free. We usually do a good job of that and on Sunday we turn around and do it again against a tough Memphis team. This is the kind of schedule we wanted, though, in order to test ourselves in those kinds of tough environments. At that point we'll be ready for just about everything and can look back at our body of work and know we've seen it all as we head into Southland Conference play."
SCOUTING OLE MISS | ROSTER | SCHEDULE | STATISTICS
• Now up to number three in the nation in the latest edition of the Intercollegiate Tennis Association's rankings, the Rebels have been the victors in seven of the eight matches they have played this season. SFA represents the second of four-straight opponents Ole Miss will face at home.
• Three of the ITA's top 120-ranked singles players wear Ole Miss uniforms with senior Arienne Hartono holding the team's highest singles ranking - 16th in the nation. A perfect 6-0 in dual match action in the number-one flight, Hartono is also an accomplished doubles player, too, teaming with Alexa Bortles to form the tenth-ranked tandem according to the ITA. The Bortles/Hartono pairing has yielded a 5-2 record this spring for Ole Miss.
• In the middle of the Rebels' lineup, Tea Jandric is ranked 58th nationally in singles play by the ITA. This spring she is 6-1 with four of those triumphs coming on the number-four line.
• Sabina Machalova represents the third and final member of the Rebels' singles lineup that is ranked by the ITA. Checking in at 115th in the latest version of the ITA rankings, Machalova has gone 3-3 in with all of her bouts occurring in the number-three slot.
• Despite having lost four-straight matches in the number-two doubles slot, Machalova and Natelie Suk are still ranked as the 45th-best doubles team by the ITA. They have posted a 2-4 record on the number-two line for Ole Miss this spring.
• The Rebels' rank of third in the nation is the highest in the history of the program while the program's lone loss this spring came by a 4-2 tally to then third-ranked North Carolina at the National Team Indoor Championship in Madison, Wis.
SCOUTING MEMPHIS | ROSTER | SCHEDULE | STATISTICS
• Back at home for the only time in the month of February, the Tigers are looking to build on a 6-4 start through their first 10 matches. Missouri ended Memphis' three-match winning streak on Feb. 18 by a 4-2 score and the Tigers are sure to come out strong against SFA in the team's second-to-last non-conference match before American Athletic Conference play starts in earnest.
• With the duos of Josephine Cao and Claire Sullivan (number one, number two) and Katherine Cao and Hanna Sohn (number three) handling matters in the doubles flights, the Tigers have had a marked advantage over their opponents. Each of those teams holds a 7-2 record in doubles action.
• In singles play, Anki Wind has played in the first, second and third flights but bouncing around has not had an adverse effect on her win total. Wind's eight singles wins are the most on the team and she is unbeaten in her last six singles bouts.
• Sohn is the Tigers' best top-line option in singles action, having posted a 5-3 record in the number-one slot this season.
• As a team, Memphis is 30-23 (.566) in singles play but only 5-13 (.384) in flight four and five combined.
COMING UP NEXT
• Southland Conference tennis action starts for the Ladyjacks once the calendar rolls to the month of March. SFA starts its league play schedule at home on the courts of the Schlief Tennis Complex on Saturday, March 3, when Lamar comes calling at noon. The following day, SFA and Sam Houston State do battle at noon from the same venue.
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