NASHVILLE - No. 8 Stanford dropped a 4-3 decision to No. 25 Mississippi on Friday afternoon in a neutral-site match for both teams.
In a match that lasted more than five hours, Mariha Milutinovic outlasted Kimberly Yee 6-1, 4-6, 7-5 at the No. 6 spot to clinch the match for Mississippi (3-0).
Leading 3-1, Stanford (1-1) was unable to lock up a fourth point in the singles competition, which saw five of six matches decided in straight sets.
The Cardinal locked up the doubles point for an early 1-0 advantage, despite the No. 1 team of Taylor Davidson and Caroline Doyle suffering only its second loss in 15 matches.
Krista Hardebeck made it 2-0 with a 6-2, 6-4 victory over Mai El Kamash at the No. 3 spot before Mississippi finally got on the scoreboard thanks to Arianne Hartono’s upset of Taylor Davidson at the top spot of the lineup.
Caroline Lampl booked a 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 win over Zalina Khairudinova on court five, putting Stanford on the brink of clinching the match.
But the Rebels countered with three straight victories, capped by Milutinovic at the No. 6 spot. Milutinovic, a senior, jumped out to a 3-0 lead before Yee, one of three Cardinal freshmen, moved in front 4-3. Milutinovic then led 5-4 only to have Yee even the set at 5-5. However, Milutinovic registered another break and held serve to close out the victory.
Stanford next faces defending NCAA champion and top-ranked Vanderbilt on Saturday at 9 a.m. PT. The Cardinal will be facing the nation’s top team for the first time since knocking off No. 1 Florida 4-3 on May 20, 2013 in the semifinals of the NCAA Championships. It’s also a rematch from last season, when Stanford defeated Vanderbilt 4-3 at Taube Family Tennis Stadium.
No. 25 Mississippi 4, No. 8 Stanford 3
DOUBLES
1) No. 47 Mai El Kamash/Arianne Hartono (MISS) d. No. 10 Davidson/Doyle (STAN) 6-4
2) Lord/Yee (STAN) d. Allie Sanford/Natalie Suk (MISS) 6-4
3) Hardebeck/Lampl (STAN) d. Zalina Khairudinova/Tea Jandric (MISS) 6-2
Order of Finish: 3, 1, 2
SINGLES
1) No. 84 Arianne Hartono (MISS) d. No. 20 Taylor Davidson (STAN) 6-2, 2-6, 6-1
2) Natalie Suk (MISS) d. No. 39 Caroline Doyle (STAN) 2-6, 6-2, 6-4
3) Krista Hardebeck (STAN) d. No. 55 Mai El Kamash (MISS) 6-2, 6-4
4) No. 44 Tea Jandric (MISS) d. Melissa Lord (STAN) 6-2, 4-6, 6-4
5) Caroline Lampl (STAN) d. Zalina Khairudinova (MISS) 2-6, 6-4, 6-4
6) Mariha Milutinovic (MISS) d. Kimberly Yee (STAN) 6-1, 4-6, 7-5
Order of Finish: 3, 1, 5, 2, 4, 6