Ole Miss’ Stefan Lindmark hits a backhand during the 2014 ITA Kickoff Weekend match against Clemson. (Photo by Ignacio Murillo)
SATURDAY: NO. 26 MICHIGAN 4, NO. 10 OLE MISS 3
The Ole Miss men’s tennis team started the spring with a loss against Michigan Saturday in the ITA Kick-Off at the Gillom Sports Center. The Rebels got three wins in singles play but could not pull out the win in the overall match as they lost to the Wolverines, 4-3.
Shaun Bernstein and Kevin Wong of Michigan won at No. 3 doubles, as they defeated sophomores Joe Rogers and Zach Wilder of Ole Miss, 6-0. Michigan’s Barrett Franks and Alex Buzzi then took the doubles point as they defeated junior Nik Scholtz and senior Johan Backstrom of Ole Miss, 6-5, at No. 1 doubles.
“We came out and we were a little nervous,” Scholtz said. “It was a close game. I feel like we lost it. There are things I can look back on and know it was on me. It doesn’t matter what happens after that point.”
The Rebels picked up three wins in singles play. At No. 1 singles, Scholtz defeated Michigan’s Vlad Stefan, 6-4, 6-2. Sophomore Stefan Lindmark battled back down one set and defeated Justin Rossi, 3-6, 6-1, 6-2, at No. 3 singles. Backstrom defeated Alex Buzzi, 6-2, 6-4, at No. 4 singles.
Michigan also picked up three wins in singles play, which gave it the overall match over Ole Miss, 4-3. Alex Petrone defeated junior William Kallberg, 6-3, 6-2, at No. 2 singles. At No. 5 singles, Barrett Franks defeated freshman Vinod Gowda, 6-5, 6-5. At No. 6 singles, Michael Zhu defeated sophomore Zach Wilder, 6-2, 6-2.
“Michigan is a fine indoor team,” head coach Billy Chadwick said. “When it got right down to it, they played two breakers better than we did in Vinod’s match, and they came away with the victory.”
SUNDAY: NO. 25 CLEMSON 4, NO. 10 OLE MISS 2
After losing to Michigan on the first day of the ITA Kick-Off, the Rebels returned to face Clemson but could not pull out the victory as they lost, 4-2.
For the second consecutive day, the Rebels could not pull out a victory in the doubles matches. Luke Johnson and Austin Ansari of Clemson got the first victory in doubles as they defeated Wilder and Rogers, 6-1, at No. 3 doubles. Kallberg and Lindmark could not get the Rebels on the board, as they fell to the Clemson duo of Alejandro Augusto and Robert Dudley, 6-3.
The Rebels made the match close with wins in singles play by Scholtz and Backstrom at No. 1 and 4 singles, respectively. However, losses by Lindmark, 5-6, 1-6; Kallberg, 2-6, 4-6; and Wilder, 5-6, 4-6, gave Clemson the win in the overall match, 4-2.
“It’s very disappointing, obviously,” Backstrom said. “Losing matches by small margins is very disappointing. You got to try and learn from it and get ready for the outdoor season.”
The Rebels showed a lot of fight in the matches, even though they could not pull out the victory. Head coach Billy Chadwick said he saw a lot of improvement in his team and was proud of his team’s efforts.
“Of course we wanted to advance, but we knew going in we had a young team,” Chadwick said. “I was proud of the guys. I thought they fought really good today. The thing that I saw was that we played better top to bottom today.”
For continuing coverage of Ole Miss men’s tennis, follow @drubino11 and @thedm_sports on Twitter.
— Dylan Rubino
djrubino@go.olemiss.edu
