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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Men's Tennis Loses Hard Fought Battle to LSU
6/21/1999 | Men's Tennis
May 24, 1998
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ATHENS, Ga. - The sixth-ranked Ole Miss men's tennis team gave LSU a hardfought battle before falling to the second-seeded Tigers 4-0 in the quarterfinals of the NCAA Championships Sunday. With the loss, the Rebels end the season at 18-8 overall, while LSU improves to 25-1 and goes on to meet Georgia in the semifinals.
"We made a good run at them, but it was just a little too late," Head Coach Billy Chadwick said. "I am proud of the guys. They played hard and never quit. LSU had the momentum after doubles and it carried over into the first sets. I was impressed with our stamina. The longer the match went, the more it was to our advantage. If we win the second set on court two, then maybe we turn it around."
LSU took the early lead with wins at the one and three doubles positions. Ole Miss' Sebastien Lami and Vikrant Chada defeated Zak Blanchard and Eduardo Villagomez 8-5 at No. 2 doubles. The Tigers answered as the duo of Michal Chmela and Tom Hand broke the Rebel tandem of Sebastien DeChaunac and Martin Sjoqvist in the first game and went on to post a 8-5 win. At No. 3 doubles, the two teams were on serve until the 14th game, with the Rebels serving, but LSU's Pedro Braga and Pedro Escudero broke Anders Stenman and James Shortall for the 8- 6 win and the point.
In singles, LSU seemingly took command of the match when they won the first sets in all six matches. Blanchard defeated Ole Miss' Chada 6-2, 6-4 at No. 4 singles to make it 2-0 LSU. Rebel freshman Lami rallied from a 6-1 deficit in the first set, to win the second set against Braga 6-1, before losing 6-1 in the third. That gave the Tigers a 3-0 lead.
On court one, DeChaunac was up a break in the third set to Chmela, on court five, Shortall had rallied to split sets with Hand and on court six, Stenman was up a break in the second set after losing the first set.
With LSU up 3-0, Rebel sophomore, Sjoqvist, had just broken back to get it to 4-4 in the second set against Pedro Escudero, but lost his serve. Escudero served out to clinch the match for the Tigers, ending any hopes of an Ole Miss comeback.
The loss was the third for the Rebels this season against LSU. The Tigers defeated Ole Miss 5-2 in the regular season meeting at Oxford and then again in the semifinals of the SEC Tournament (4-2). The Rebels have advanced to the quarterfinal round of the NCAA Championships four years in a row.
DeChaunac will be participating in the NCAA Individual Championships beginning Thursday. He is considered one of the favorites to win the singles title. Sjoqvist is a second alternate in the singles, while he and DeChaunac are first alternates in the doubles.
NCAA MEN'S TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIPS Athens, Ga.#5-8 Ole Miss 0#2 LSU 4SINGLES#1 Sebastien DeChaunac (OM) vs. Michal Chmela (LSU) suspended#2 Pedro Escudero (LSU) def. Martin Sjoqvist (OM) 6-2, 6-4#3 Pedro Braga (LSU) def. Sebastien Lami (OM) 6-1, 1-6, 6-1#4 Zak Blanchard (LSU) def. Vikrant Chada (OM) 6-2, 6-4#5 James Shortall (OM) vs. Tom Hand (LSU) suspended#6 Anders Stenman (OM) vs. Eduardo Villagomez (LSU) suspendedDOUBLES#1 Chmela-Hand (LSU) def. DeChaunac-Sjoqvist (OM) 8-5#2 Lami-Chada (OM) def. Blanchard-Villagomez (LSU) 8-5#3 Braga-Escudero (LSU) def. Stenman-Shortall (OM) 8-6
May 24, 1998 Ole Miss Sports Information
