Senior William Kallberg hits the ball in a match last week. (File Photo | Jason Zhang)
Ole Miss 5, Tulane 2
The 10th ranked Ole Miss men’s tennis team defeated Tulane by a score of 5-2 Friday evening at the Gillom Sports Center. The Rebels improved to 8-2 overall on the season while the Green Wave fell to 9-3.
“I feel like it was a good team effort from top to bottom,” star senior Nik Scholtz said. “There’s a lot of confidence and momentum that comes from a win like this. They were a great team, so the win means a lot to us.”
The Rebels swept the overall doubles point as they won the first two matches of the doubles portion. Freshman Gustav Hansson and senior William Kallberg dropped the first set then won six straight games to win the match 6-1.
Freshman Zvonimir Babic and junior Stefan Lindmark rallied from a 3-0 deficit to win the match 6-3, which clinched the doubles point. Just like Hansson and Kallberg, Babic and Lindmark rallied to win six straight games.
Schultz would lead off at No. 1 singles and won his 16th straight home match against 14th ranked junior Dominik Koepfer of Tulane 6-2, 7-5.
Junior Stefan Lindmark struggled and dropped the match in straight sets to freshman Constantin Schmitz of Tulane 3-6. 4-6.
Hansson, playing No. 3 singles, won the first set 6-3, lost the second set 4-6 then prevailed in the third set 6-3.
At No. 4 singles, Kallberg lost the first set 2-6, then rallied to win the second set 6-3 before falling in the third set 7-6.
Any hope for the Green Wave was lost, however, as Babic won at No. 5 singles 7-5, 2-6, 6-2 to clinch the win for the Rebels.
The match would continue even after the Rebels clinched the victory, where sophomore Vinod Gowda split the first two sets 3-6 and 6-1 before prevailing in the tiebreaker at No. 6 singles 10-6.
Ole Miss 4, Vanderbilt 0
The Rebels opened their Southeastern Conference slate with a commanding victory over 16th ranked Vanderbilt 4-0 Sunday afternoon at the Gillom Sports Center. The Rebels improved to 9-2 overall on the season while the Commodores fell to 10-3.
“The whole team played a great match,” Ole Miss head coach Toby Hansson said. “When we had a grip on the match, they didn’t let up.”
“It sounds like a blowout, but if you look at the scores, they were all really close, and it just shows that the guys were real clutch today,” Scholtz said. “Everyone played the big points well. We were mentally there the whole time.”
Hansson and Kallberg fell 3-6 at the first doubles match on court one to the top ranked pairing in the nation, freshman Gonzales Austin and junior Rhys Johnson, but their teammates picked up the slack.
Lindmark and Babic won easily at No. 2 doubles 6-3. Then Scholtz and Hamilton won a tense match at No. 3 doubles 7-6 to secure the opening point for the Rebels.
“Getting that doubles point was big for our momentum,” Hansson said.
The singles portion of the match would only last the first three matches, but they were all close matches. At No. 1 singles, Scholtz won his 17th straight home match, defeating 9th ranked senior Gonzales Austin of Vanderbilt 5-7, 6-3, 6-3.
“I knew he was a heck of a player,” Scholtz said. “I’m really happy with the way I played in the end. I’ve done it so many times, where I lose the first set then come back. You can’t get down on yourself.”
“Nik really raised his game after the first set,” Hansson said. “In the second and third set, he took it to him and played an excellent match.”
Lindmark recovered from his loss Friday to win easily at No. 2 singles 6-2, 6-4.
Finally, Kallberg, playing No. 3 singles, won a tightly contested match 7-6 (3) , 7-6 (7).
“It was just what we hoped for,” Hansson said. “The crowd coming out and supporting us today was huge, and the guys were feeding off of it. They just lifted us today.”
The Rebels will look to continue their strong play Thursday, when they take on Mississippi State at 5 p.m. in Starkville.
