Rice Clinches Win Over Mississippi State in Singles Rally

STARKVILLE, Miss. – The No. 35 University of Arkansas women’s tennis team rallied in singles play to defeat No. 63 Mississippi State on Friday afternoon in a 4-2 decision. The Razorbacks improve to 13-7 overall and 6-4 in Southeastern Conference play.

The Bulldogs got off to an early lead, claiming the doubles point with wins on courts two and three. Graduate student Tatum Rice and Morgan Cross struck first with a 6-3 win on court one, but the Bulldogs followed with a 6-4 win on court two over Arkansas’ Laura Rijkers and Lenka Stara. The doubles point came down to court three where Indianna Spink and Kelly Keller were tied 4-4 against Mississippi State’s No. 58 Cirotte and Mikhailuk. The Bulldogs duo took the next to sets in a 6-4 win to claim the doubles point for Mississippi State.

In singles, the Razorbacks got off to a hot start taking five of the first sets. Sophomore Lenka Stara grabbed the first singles win for the Hogs, blanking her opponent in the second set to cruise to a 6-4, 6-0 win on court four. The Bulldogs followed up with a win on court six, but Indianna Spink got it done on court three 6-1, 6-4 to tie the match at 2-2.

The Razorbacks were looking for two more singles wins, with courts one, two and five all tied up in the second sets. On court two, Kelly Keller gave the Hogs the lead taking the second-set tiebreaker in a 6-1, 7-5 win over Mississippi State’s Adaloglou.

Graduate student Tatum Rice clinched the win for the Razorbacks on court one, defeating No. 80 Emma Antonaki 6-3, 7-5. Rice improves to 9-7 at the No. 1 position this dual season and 5-6 against nationally ranked players.

Arkansas continue their road trip, traveling to Oxford, Miss. to take on Ole Miss on Sunday, April 10 at 1 p.m. CT. Live scoring and video links are available on our schedule page.

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