HONOLULU—The University of Hawai'i women's tennis team battled hard, but was edged out by Ole Miss, 4-3 on Wednesday afternoon at the UH Tennis Complex. The Rebels improved to 2-0 on the season while the Rainbow Wahine fell to 1-2 overall.
 
Ole Miss, who began the season just outside the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Top 25, captured the doubles point by earning close wins on the No. 2 and No. 3 courts. Hawai'i's No. 2 team of Cindy Nguyen and Klara Pribylova was held off by Natalie Suk and Alexa Bortles by a break, 6-4. Ole Miss' No. 3 duo of Tea Jandric and Zalina Khairudoniva then defeated UH's Marina Hruba and Alzbeta Houbova by the same score, 6-4. All three doubles matches were closely contested with the No. 1 match between UH's Petra Melounova and Roxanne Resma and OM's Arianne Hartono and Anna Vrbenska going unfinished with the score at 5-5 at the time that the Rebels won the doubles point.
 
In singles, Melounova evened the match at 1-1 with an efficient 6-1, 6-2 win over Suk on the No. 2 court. But Ole Miss then took a 3-1 lead with wins on Courts 6 and 5. Hawai'i's Nguyen then closed the gap with a three set win over 31st-ranked Hartono. Nguyen fell in a close first set, but rebounded to take the next two to earn her first win over a ranked opponent this season, 4-6, 6-4, 6-2. She won five of the last  six games in the third set for her first win over a ranked opponent since she defeated Michigan's No. 21 Ronit Yurovsky in 2015 as a sophomore. Nguyen now has three wins over ranked opponents in her career.
 
Ole Miss, however, then clinched the win with a three set thriller on No. 3 with Vrbenska edging out Hruba, 6-3, 3-6, 6-4.
 
Resma, however, had the match of the night for Hawai'i against Khairudoniva playing at No. 4. Khairudoniva won the first set by a break but Resma battled back in the second set to even the match at 1-1. In the third set, Resma was down 2-5 before reeling off five-straight games for a thrilling come-from-behind win over Khairudoniva, 4-6, 6-4, 7-5.
 
The Rainbow Wahine now have a 17-day break before their next match against San Diego on Feb. 3 at 11:00 am.
 
Ole Miss 4, Hawai'i 3
UH Tennis Complex – Honolulu, O'ahu
January 18, 2017
 
Doubles Results (Order of finish: 2, 3)
1. Arianne Hartono/Anna Vrbenska (OM) vs. Roxanne Resma/Petra Melounova (UH), 5-5 (UNF)
2. Natalie Suk/Alexa Bortles (OM) def. Cindy Nguyen/Klara Pribylova (UH), 6-4
3. Tea Jandric/Zalina Khairudinova (OM) def. Marina Hruba/Alzbeta Houbova (UH), 6-4
 
Singles Results (Order of finish: 2,6,5,1,3,4)
1. Cindy Nguyen (UH) def. Arianne Hartono (OM), 4-6, 6-4,6-2
2. No. 119 Petra Melounova (UH) def. Natalie Suk (OM), 6-1, 6-2
3. Anna Vrbenska (OM) def. Marina Hruba (UH), 6-3, 3-6, 6-4
4. Roxanne Resma (UH) def. Zalina Khairudinova (OM), 4-6, 6-4, 7-5
5. Tea Jandric (OM) def. Klara Pribylova (UH), 6-4, 6-2
6. Alexa Bortles (OM) def. Alzbeta Houbova (UH), 6-2, 6-2
 
Tereza Janatova (OM) def. Saga Shermis (UH), 6-4, 6-4
Allie Sanford (OM) def. Sophia Storch (UH), 6-0, 6-1
 
Hawai'i (1-2)
Ole Miss (2-0)