Ole Miss 4, Tennessee 0
The 14th ranked Ole Miss tennis team started the weekend off strong with a dominant 4-0 shutout of the Tennessee Volunteers Thursday night at the Palmer/Salloum Tennis Center. The Rebels improved to 14-6 on the season, 6-3 in the Southeastern Conference, while the Volunteers fell to 11-10, 3-6 in the SEC.
“All around, it was a great day for the Rebs,” Ole Miss head coach Toby Hansson said.
The Rebels started the match off strong, earning the opening doubles point. Senior Nik Scholtz and freshman Zvonimir Babic clinched the point with a 6-4 win over Tennessee seniors Mikelis Liebietis and Hunter Reese, the defending NCAA doubles champions.
Ole Miss won the first doubles match at No. 3, with freshman Grey Hamilton and senior William Kallberg defeating Volunteer sophomore Jack Shipansky and freshman Luis Valero 6-1. The Rebels fell at No. 2 doubles, with junior Stefan Lindmark and freshman Gustav Hansson losing to Tennessee senior Andrew Dromsky and freshman Igor Smelyanski 3-6.
“For us to get the doubles point, I think it deflated them a little bit,” Hansson said. “They have a very strong team at number one doubles. To get that win was huge.”
The Rebels carried their strong momentum into singles, where they would win the first three matches to clinch the shutout.
“We controlled the singles from the get-go,” Hansson said.
Lindmark stayed undefeated in the SEC, moving to 7-0 with a 6-3, 6-1 win over Shipansky at No. 2 singles.
“I played pretty well today,” Lindmark said. “I think I matched up well with him.”
Hansson defeated Valero at No. 3 singles, 6-4, 6-0, and sophomore Ricardo Jorge defeated Dromsky 6-4, 6-4 at No. 6 singles.
The match between 15th ranked Scholtz and 14th ranked Liebietis at No. 1 singles was not finished after the Rebels clinched the win. Scholtz was leading 6-3, 3-3.
Ole Miss 4, Kentucky 0
The Rebels posted another shutout Saturday, defeating the Kentucky Wildcats 4-0 on Senior Day at the Palmer/Salloum Tennis Center. The Rebels continued strong play moving them to 15-6, on the season, 7-3 in the SEC, while Kentucky fell to 11-14, 2-8 in the EC.
“I’m really proud of the way all the guys competed out there,” Hansson said.
The Rebels won the opening doubles point and did not look back. Scholtz and Babic defeated Kentucky juniors Beck Pennington and Kevin Lai 6-4 at No. 1 singles. At No. 2 singles, Hansson and Lindmark won the tiebreaker 8-6 after the match was tied 6-6, defeating Wildcat sophomores Jerry Lopez and Nils Ellefsen. Ole Miss fell at No. 3 doubles with Kallberg and Hamilton losing to Kentucky freshmen William Bushamuka and Trey Yates 3-6.
The Rebels dominated the singles portion to ensure another shutout.
Playing his first singles match in the SEC at No. 6, Hamilton defeated Kentucky freshman Jake Stefanik 7-5, 6-2.
Scholtz won his final regular season home match, winning 6-4, 6-3 over Pennington at No. 1 singles.
Sophomore Vinod Gowda won his match at No. 5 singles for the Rebels defeating Ellefsen 6-4, 6-3 to clinch the win for the Rebels.
“Overall, just a great weekend and a tremendous way to finish off the home schedule,” Hansson said. “These guys earned every win we got here.”
The Rebels close out regular season play this weekend with matches at South Carolina and 6th ranked Georgia.
