Blue Raiders Fall at Ole Miss, 5-2

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. - Middle Tennessee won the doubles point and the first singles match but was unable to close out the victory, falling to 49th-ranked Ole Miss, 5-2, Tuesday in women's tennis action at the Gillom Sports Center in Oxford, Miss.

The Blue Raiders (2-1) suffered their first loss of the season but came close to upsetting the nationally-ranked Rebels.

Middle Tennessee won the first point of the match, taking the final two doubles outings at Nos. 1 and 2.

Ole Miss' Nika Koukhartchouk and Soledad Podlipnik defeated Pooja Kommireddi and Claudia Szabo, 8-2, at No. 3, but the Blue Raiders squared the doubles with an 8-3 triumph at No. 1, with Hala Sufi and Ann-Kristin Siljestrom taking care of Ilona Somers and Kseniia Tokarieva, 8-3.

The deciding match at No. 2 pitted Middle Tennessee's Stephanie Parkison and Elvira Yusupova against Carlin Cochran and Sarah Sabin, with the Blue Raider duo pulling out an 8-6 victory.

Middle Tennessee took a 2-0 lead when Sabin defaulted at No. 6 against Szabo, but the Rebels won the first set in four matches on their way to victory.

Tokarieva defeated Siljestrom, 6-2, 6-0, at No. 2, and Koukhartchouk won by the same score over Parkison at No. 3 to even the match at two. Podlipnik took care of Yusupova, 6-1, 6-2, at No. 4, and Cochran defeated Kommireddi at No. 5, 6-2, 6-3, for the deciding point.

At No. 1 singles, Middle Tennessee's 47th-ranked Hala Sufi went up a set by fell in a supertiebreaker, 6-4, 2-6, 8-10 to Somers.

"We've been working really hard on doubles and it showed," head coach Alison Ojeda said. "We were excited and thrilled [after winning the doubles] and maybe felt like we won the match, but against top teams you can't do that. But we've made progress, but we let a crucial opportunity slip away. It will certainly help us going into this weekend."

Middle Tennessee hosts 27th-ranked Virginia Friday at 1 p.m. at the Racquet Club of Murfreesboro.

#49 Ole Miss 4, Middle Tennessee 3
SINGLES
1. Ilona Somers (UM) def. (47) Hala Sufi (MT), 4-6, 6-2, 10-8
2. Kseniia Tokarieva (UM) def. Ann-Kristin Siljestrom (MT), 6-2, 6-0
3. Nika Koukhartchouk (UM) def. Stephanie Parkison (MT), 6-2, 6-0
4. Soledad Podlipnik (UM) def. Elvira Yusupova (MT), 6-1, 6-2
5. Carlin Cochran (UM) def. Pooja Kommireddi (MT), 6-2, 6-3
6. Claudia Szabo (MT) def. Sarah Sabin (UM), default
Order of Finish: 6,2,3,4,5*,1

DOUBLES
1. Sufi-Siljestrom (MT) def. Somers-Tokarieva (UM), 8-3
2. Parkison-Yusupova (MT) def. Cochran-Sabin (UM), 8-6
3. Koukhartchouk-Podlipnik (UM) def. Kommireddi-Szabo (MT), 8-2
Order of Finish: 3,1,2*

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