Two more SEC wins.
This was the goal head coach Mark Beyers set
for the Ole Miss women's tennis team
as they entered the end of their difficult schedule.
Yeah, afterwards I think we kinda laid it out to the girls
like, hey this is, this is what we've gotta do.
Him telling us that we had to get those two wins helped us
in a sense 'cause we didn't really have time
to dwell on the past.
We had to find a way to get those two wins.
And with two home matches
the Rebels are reminded that in the SEC no match is given
and everything is earned.
[upbeat music]
As the sun rose on a new morning the Ole Miss tennis team
had their goals set as they began their day.
Get goin'! Go Rebs! Go Rebs!
The Rebels had to find the right balance of fun and focus
as they took the court to prepare
for their upcoming match.
And volunteer assistant coach Blair Shankle was ready to
hit the ground running at the early morning practice.
Better set me up with the depth Anna.
Oh yeah. There we go.
Get up, get up.
Oh! Anna's too nice.
No way, the leftie, no shot.
It happens from time, I'm sure everybody does it from
time to time when they're really, you know, stretched out
and that's the only other option.
I think with Tea it's become, you know, like, I mean,
it happens every match, multiple times.
That's incredible.
It's always the leftie.
Riah, three more.
And I have to deal with these two now.
Candice, you're in good position on that forehand,
which you were.
You're here and set.
You don't even load that, just take it, and drive it.
Yeah, good stuff, good.
I think everyone was pretty level-headed,
kinda put their heads down,
just worked on what they needed to work on,
and did what they had to to prepare for Sunday.
Do it!
Yeah Anna!
[laughing]
[upbeat music]
As Sunday arrived, so too did clear skies
and a determined Missouri team, coming off of a close loss,
the Tigers had their sights set on
making the Rebels their prey,
and looked to start by securing the doubles point.
Anytime we play a SEC match, it's a big match.
You know, anything can happen.
That's not a match we can take lightly.
Remember, short and fast, short and fast.
There you go.
Winning doubles point, it just means a lot.
I know it only seems like, it's like one point out of six,
but it gives us, it gives us more confidence going into
our singles match knowing we need to only win three
singles matches instead of four matches.
[cheering]
Aggressive playing by Missouri, however,
gave the Tigers a 1-0 lead on all three courts.
What's up.
Just hey, if you're gonna take it early, just shorten and
just make sure it's in front and give it a rip, okay.
Like, they're not gonna do much with your ball, okay,
so just make sure it's a big target again, okay?
[grunts]
[cheering]
Anna and Tea's match was really quick, which really helps,
it takes a lot of pressure off of our court
when we're working on court one.
You know being able to see that,
get off to a great start.
And with some fancy handiwork,
[cheering]
the Rebels were able to walk away with the doubles point.
Winner! [cheers]
Game, set, match.
I felt like once we finished the doubles point a lot of us
were really happy because
we had been struggling all season with doubles,
so just getting the doubles point is really
important for us.
We still have that same mindset.
Listen, we need everyone of us, all six of us,
to give us the opportunity to get to four courts.
So, no scoreboard watching, you take care of business
on your court, your court, your court,
your court, your court.
All right, and then we'll worry about
whatever happens at the end.
So that same sense of urgency, right from the beginning.
Heeding the words of Coach Beyers,
Sabina Machalova came out swinging
and captured the first set, six - love.
When Sabina is on,
and there's no one in this country she can't beat.
I mean, that kid is so talented.
She hits, she strikes the ball as good as anybody around,
so I think she was really feelin' it,
really feelin' good that match.
I mean, I feel good, I played my game.
She kind of didn't know how to answer it, so,
it was my day. [laughs]
Now go hit all targets, girl, let's go.
Yeah.
[clapping]
With Machalova winning on court one,
and a win on court five to shortly follow.
Come on!
All that was left was Anna Vrbenska to secure
the four - zero sweep.
[cheering]
These guys have played a lot of close matches
against some good teams,
and we beat 'em up pretty good today.
And so, the same thing, just nothing changes.
We're just every single day, we're coming to work,
we take care of our business,
and then whatever happens as far as the result is concerned,
that's what happens,
but we're not gonna give up on anything,
we're not letting up
until the very last ball of our seasons' hit.
I don't have to tell you guys,
I've told you guys many times, anybody can beat anybody
out here in the SEC this year.
And that's been proven many, many times.
Whatever rankings say, it's just a number.
Get in here guys.
[groans and laughter]
Six forty-five.
[team chattering]
The Rebs on three, one, two, three.
Go Rebs!
There are many styles of play in tennis.
There are counter-punchers,
and aggressive baseliners, to name a few.
But one style of play on the Rebels' roster
can be difficult to place.
Terka throws everything, you know, at you.
You know, it's one of those things where she does
a lot of different things.
She's like you said,
she's capable of serving and volleying.
But if she has to go side to side at the baseline,
she can do that as well and she'll throw,
mix in some slices, she'll mix in some drop shots,
she'll mix in some high spin balls.
Anything, and that's the thing that's her strength, I think,
is that opponents don't know what to expect.
Not a lot of like, female tennis players play that way,
and we don't have a chance
to like, practice it,
like with those kind of players.
You know, you can put her in any spot in the lineup then
I'm feeling comfortable because that's a great matchup for
us because nobody knows what to do against her, at all.
And, it's a lot of fun to watch, because you see people
just like, lose their mind.
It just came from my dad wanting me to learn
every single shot when I was little,
so he put a lot of emphasis on
learning how to slice, have good volleys,
being able to serve pretty well.
She's awesome.
She's funny, she's quirky,
she's fun to be around, she works hard.
She has a great attitude.
She's a great teammate to have.
We got back to practice after those matches,
we played two matches and, she had a knee sleeve on,
and I was like,
"Hey what happened with that?"
and then our trainer kind of explained what had happened,
and, she was still having a little bit of knee pain.
Well so, when I got here I was really excited to start
playing and we went for our first tournament in Arkansas,
and I was running for a backhand,
and it's like, ran through that,
I immediately fell down and I knew something was wrong but,
I still tried to finish that match,
but after one or two more games,
our former coach Jason,
he told me to stop the match and just,
just rest and take care of knee.
So I went to see doctors and they sent me to MRI and it
showed it was almost completely torn so.
And so here's a kid that comes from the Czech Republic,
and you're here for less than a month and
you've got a torn ACL.
And so now your, your goals and aspirations,
seem derailed or at least momentarily.
I was devastated by that point because I was so excited
to play and, about everything, everything here at Ole Miss,
I really like the school and everything,
and that was just a big shock for me.
So I went to the doctors and they told me your ACL is torn,
you need to have a surgery in order to keep playing tennis.
And at that moment, it was,
it was really tough for me because I was like well,
I want to keep playing, so I have to go through to surgery,
but then I was really scared of that.
I mean, it was tough to watch your teammate like,
just struggle and not be able to play as much as they
want to or play to their best ability,
but she's very patient.
I think a lot of people in her shoes would have given up.
It's a lot to handle for one kid.
You know, she never really complained you know,
like about the tennis stuff.
She came in and got to work whenever she could.
She did whatever she could.
And last year when I had to go back to have another
surgery on that knee I was, I was really down and,
I was like hey, I have whole summer to get back,
I have whole fall that I can get ready, and I just,
I just tried to not to think about the injuries,
and just try to focus on my rehab and try to get back.
[soft music]
As this is really the first year
she's been able to practice non-stop.
Play non-stop and feel pretty good physically.
It's been great.
I mean, she's just a hard worker
and it's just so much fun to get on the court
and practice with her everyday, you know.
Well it's never easy to recover from injuries
but I've felt like I had,
I had support from my teammates,
and I really like being at Ole Miss, so.
I would say it's been pretty good experience so far overall.
I had a lot of fun these past years.
Especially this season,
like her and Mark have been on court together.
They've had like a, I guess a good relationship
and they've been working really well together and yeah.
I mean, she's won a lot of matches for us this year
and she's been a huge part, a huge rock in our lineup, so.
We got all the confidence in the world for her.
As the Rebels' season comes to a close,
they had one last opportunity
to take down another SEC opponent.
And that opportunity would take the form of
the number 16 ranked Texas A&M Aggies.
I was a little nervous actually going into that match,
like you said our last opportunity to get that SEC win.
Finish the season on a good note for our seniors.
Okay, it's our last SEC match.
Let's just enjoy this day and just fight.
You know if you're playing one doubles
more than likely they're ranked.
They're gonna be good no matter what.
But, yeah, I just remember the first point,
she hit a return and I looked back and saw it
and that's the hardest return I ever seen in my life.
After a slow start in doubles,
the Rebels began an attempt at a come-back.
[cheering]
Resulting in close matches on all three courts.
They like started coming back,
and we're like okay, that's great,
we still have a chance to like win the doubles point.
We finished the match.
I wasn't even aware of what's happening there
'cause it was like really, really close.
So we're still hoping,
okay, we gonna win overall doubles point.
But the Aggies would eventually secure the doubles point
as the match headed to singles play.
I was thinking okay this could be like,
this is my last home match,
and I'm never gonna get the chance to play here again,
and to compete like in a SEC match.
The team as a whole, even after losing at doubles,
we seemed pretty energetic.
We were like, positive and that day was just like
I knew we gonna win.
We're playing six matches here,
we have to get four, to four points, you know.
Everyone takes care of their business.
It's, you know, we're gonna go home with the win.
[cheering]
And we won five first sets in singles.
I think we won everything but at six.
Cool.
Three of the Rebels
would capture decisive second sets,
putting the overall score at three to two,
and leaving Ole Miss one match away from an upset.
It was last two, last two matches,
and Terka was already in her third set
so we know we have to focus on her.
We figure out a great game plan against this kid,
and she was executing it fantastic.
And I know that she was nervous
'cause her mom was there watching her,
and she wants to win, like so badly.
[cheering]
We could not finish better than this,
especially on a senior day,
like I won the match, we won the match.
Everyone is happy.
I started as a freshman with them
and I really wanted to win that match for them,
so they would have good memories on their last home match.
[team laughing]
First time!
Rebs on three, one, two, three. Go Rebs!
A lot of times, I kind of sing along a little bit.
Oh yeah, you know all of them.
The thing is like, I think my voice is pretty good,
but I think I don't think it is,
so I'm a little worried about hearing it.
Testing! We good? Can you hear me?
Yeah, that beard looks good?
We're good? All right, good.