The Ole Miss Men’s tennis team took on Alabama in what was a pivotal SEC match, but fell to the Crimson Tide 4-2 Sunday.
The Rebels stumbled out of the gate and lost the doubles point.
Ole Miss went into singles already down 1-0, and the Crimson Tide furthered their lead with two straight set wins. Grey Hamilton (OM) lost to Becker O’Shaughnessey 6-2, 6-4.
Stefan Lindmark (OM) also lost to Mazen Osama (UA) by a score of 6-2, 6-3.
“He didn’t play his best,” Ole Miss Head Coach Toby Hansson said of Lindmark’s match. “But he had a chance to get back in the second set with break points at 3-5. If Stefan gets that point and then he’s serving, we are back in that match.”
Down 3-0, the Rebels fought back to make the score 3-2, but Matthew Roussow clinched the win for the Crimson Tide with a win at No. 5 singles. Roussow beat Ricardo Jorge in a thrilling three-set match.
“We were a little flat in doubles,” Hansson said. “We weren’t as sharp as I’ve seen us. We were not timing the ball right on the returns. We weren’t able to handle the situation when we started losing. In singles, we were battling in every match. It was a game of inches today, and they came up with the inch. They deserve to win the match.”
Roussow broke Jorge’s servie twice in the third set and finished the match off with an ace as he sealed the victory for Alabama.
“Nice to see Fabi close that tiebreaker out,” Hansson said. “He’s lost a lot of tough matches. It’s always nice when you can win a tight set and close out a match. Ricky was inches away from getting back on track for 5-5. So many close points there, but the other guy took his chances and played a little unorthodox. He kind of threw Ricky off his rhythm a little bit.”
Ole Miss now falls to 8-8 overall and 3-6 in the SEC. Up next the Rebels have Alcorn State and Arkansas-pine Bluff at 10 a.m. this Thursday. It will be a good opportunity for the Rebels to pick up a couple of much needed victories.
The Rebels are currently in 10th place in the SEC West and tied with Auburn.
