No. 59 UC Irvine lost 4-0 to No. 17 Ole Miss in the first round of the NCAA Division I Women's Tennis Championship Friday in Atlanta, Ga at the Bill Moore Tennis Center on the campus of Georgia Tech University.
Making the program's second NCAA appearance, UC Irvine finished the 2010 season with a 13-11 record. The Lady Rebels improved to 16-5.
UCI began the match by losing the doubles point with identical 8-4 losses at the No. 1 and No. 3 positions. At No. 3, Hayley Young and April Bisharat fell to Abby Guthrie and Laura van de Stroet. Becka Kwan and Hannah Holladay fell at No. 1 to Kristi Boxx and Karen Nijssen.
The 'Eaters dropped three matches in singles to Ole Miss to complete the match. Connor Vogel defeated Stephanie Hammel 6-2, 6-0 at No. 3 to put the Lady Rebels up 2-0. At No. 5, van de Stroet rolled to a 6-2, 6-2 triumph against Kristina Smith. Gabby Rangel closed out the match at No. 6 with her 6-2, 6-3 win against Hannah Holladay.
UCI was competitive in the three remaining singles matches which were abandoned when Ole Miss reached the requisite four points for victory.
At No. 1, Courtney Byron was on the doorstep of winning her match against Boxx, leading 6-4, 5-3. Bisharat rebounded from a 6-1 first set loss to Nijssen to win 6-3 in the second. Nijssen led 1-0 in the third frame when the contest ended. Kwan led 4-3 in the second set against Guthrie after dropping the first 6-3.
No. 17 OLE MISS (4), NO. 59 UC IRVINE (0)
NCAA First Round • Atlanta, Ga.
Bill Moore Tennis Center • Georgia Tech University
Doubles
1. Boxx/Nijssen (MISS) def. Holladay/Kwan (UCI) - 8-4
2. Vogel/Rangel (MISS) vs. Byron/Smith (UCI) - 5-5, DNF
3. Guthrie/van de Stroet (MISS) def. Hayley Young/Bisharat (UCI) - 8-4
Order of finish: 3, 1
Singles
1. Courtney Byron (UCI) vs. Kristi Boxx (MISS) - 6-4, 5-3, DNF
2. Karen Nijssen (MISS) vs. April Bisharat (UCI) - 6-1, 3-6, 1-0, DNF
3. Connor Vogel (MISS) def. Stephanie Hammel (UCI) - 6-2, 6-0
4. Becka Kwan (UCI) vs. Abby Guthrie (MISS) - 3-6, 4-3, DNF
5. Laura van de Stroet (MISS) def. Kristina Smith (UCI) - 6-2, 6-2
6. Gabby Rangel (MISS) def. Hannah Holladay (UCI) - 6-2, 6-3
Order of finish: 3, 5, 6