Feb. 21, 2013

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OXFORD, Miss. – It’s going to be an exciting weekend with a lot of athletic events happening in Oxford, including the No. 29 nationally ranked Ole Miss women’s tennis team, hosting No. 16 Virginia at the Palmer/Salloum Tennis Center Saturday for a Noon match.  

Admission is free, and fans will have an opportunity to win a free tennis racket like some of the Rebels use.  

The Rebels (2-3) are in the midst of a seven-match homestand.  They downed then No. 39 Washington 6-1 last Sunday.  This will be the final non-conference match for awhile, as the Rebels will turn their attention to the start of Southeastern Conference play next weekend.

“We are very excited to have a quality team like Virginia come to Oxford,” head coach Mark Beyers said.  “It’s a great opportunity for our girls to measure themselves against another elite college team.  Hopefully we'll be able to continue the positive trend we started this past Sunday against Washington and play with the same kind of energy and focus. This will be a great test to get ourselves ready for the SEC schedule starting next week.”

The Rebels are led by junior Caroline Rohde-Moe, who is ranked No. 27 in the country in singles with an 18-7overall record, 4-1 at No. 1 singles.  She also teams with freshman Marija Milutinovic for a No. 39 doubles ranking.  The two are 11-5 overall and 5-0 in dual matches.

Virginia enters the match at 1-3 overall with all three of their losses coming against top 20 teams.  In their last action, the Cavaliers hosted the women’s ITA National Team Indoor.  They lost to No. 4 USC, No. 16 Michigan and No. 13 Texas A&M.  

The Cavaliers are led by Julia Elbaba, who is ranked No. 11 in the nation with a 17-4 overall record, 1-2 at No. 1 singles.  Their No.1 doubles team of Erin Vierra and Maci Epstein is ranked No. 5 nationally with a 14-5 overall record, 2-1 at No. 2 doubles.  They also boast the No. 17 ranked doubles tandem in Li Xi and Stephanie Nauta.