The University of Mississippi Athletics
Women's Tennis to Face Familiar Foe at NCAA Championships
6/21/1999 | Women's Tennis
May 18, 1998
OXFORD, Miss. - It's deja vu for the No. 7 nationally-ranked Ole Miss women's tennis team as they will meet ninth-ranked Arizona State in the first round of the NCAA Championships for the second year in a row. The two teams will square off Thursday at 12 p.m. on the campus of the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Ind.
"This is a great opportunity for us to play Arizona State again," Head Coach Jerry Montgomery said. "We've been working hard and are very focused. We have a lot of incentive to do well in this tournament."
The Lady Rebels, seeded 5-8 (alphabetical) come into the NCAA Championships with a 16-5 overall record. They earned an automatic berth into the Sweet Sixteen for the first time in the history of the program. Ole Miss is making its sixth appearance at the NCAA Championships and their third in a row. In 1992 and 1993 the Lady Rebels advanced to the quarterfinals.
Arizona State enters the NCAA Championships with a 13-6 overall record. They finished 5-5 in the PAC-10 South. The Sun Devils are led by 16th-ranked Reka Cseresnyes who owns a 11-7 record at the No. 1 position. Karin Palime, ranked 29th, has a 12-6 record at No. 2 singles. ASU's No. 1 doubles tandem of Stephanie Landsdorp and Katy Propstra are ranked 10th in the country with a 15-3 record.
The Lady Rebels are led by 13th-ranked Agnes Muzamel and 24th-ranked Ivona Mihailova. An All-SEC selection, Muzamel is 13-8 at the No. 1 position. Mihailova owns a 11-10 record at No. 2 singles. Muzamel and Courtenay Chapman lead the Lady Rebels in doubles with a 12-4 record at the top spot.
At last year's NCAA Championships Arizona State defeated the Lady Rebels 5-1 in the first round. The winner of Thursday's match will face the winner of the Duke/Arkansas match on Friday at 10 a.m. Ole Miss lost to Duke 8-1 in the National Team Indoor Championships and split with Arkansas.