The University of Mississippi Athletics
Rebel Netters Defeat Arkansas in First SEC Win
6/21/1999 | Men's Tennis
March 6, 1998
OXFORD, Miss. -- Freshman James Shortall of the No. 5 nationally-ranked Ole Miss men's tennis team defeated Arkansas' Henrik Toftt in straight sets (6-3, 6-4) clinching the win as the Rebels defeated the Razorbacks 6-1 at the Women's Sports Center Friday. Ole Miss improves to 9-2 on the year and 1-0 in the SEC, while Arkansas drops to 6-3 and 0-3 in conference.
Arkansas took the important doubles point in three tight matches. At No. 1 doubles, the Rebel duo of Sebastien DeChaunac and Martin Sjoqvist fought off a 0-3 deficit against Tom Hamilton and Tim Crichton, ranked No. 3 in the nation, before falling 8-6. Shortall and Barry Hassell were down 5-1 at No. 3 doubles to Darin Phelan and Oskar Johannson, but battled back before dropping the match 8-6.
Ole Miss went up 3-1 after posting wins at the top three positions. DeChaunac handled Crichton 6-3, 6-1 at No. 1 singles and Sebastien Lami downed Hamilton 6-2, 6-2 at No. 2 singles. At the third spot, Sjoqvist rallied from 5-2 down in the first set, to post a 7-5, 6-3 win.
Arkansas made the match interesting, winning the first sets at the fourth and fifth spots. Freshman Anders Stenman won a second set tiebreaker to take it to three sets against Phelan, while Chada won his second set 6-4 to go to a third set, before Shortall clinched.
"It was a hard-fought match," Head Coach Billy Chadwick said. "The match was much closer than the final score. I was impressed with freshman James Shortall, who stepped up big to clinch the match in straight sets."
The Rebels will hit the road this week for a pair of SEC matches. They will take on South Carolina March 10 at 2 p.m., and then travel to Knoxville March 12 to face Tennessee at 1 p.m.
#5 OLE MISS 6
#39 Arkansas 1
SINGLES
#1 Sebastien DeChaunac (OM) def. Tim Crichton (UA) 6-3, 6-1
#2 Sebastien Lami (OM) def. Tom Hamilton (UA) 6-2, 6-2
#3 Martin Sjoqvist (OM) def. Daniel Pahlsson (UA) 7-5, 6-3
#4 Vikrant Chada (OM) def. Oskar Johansson (UA) 4-6, 6-4, 7-6(8)
#5 Anders Stenman (OM) def. Darin Phelan (UA) 3-6, 7-6(10), 6-1
#6 James Shortall (OM) def. Henrik Tofft (UA) 6-3, 6-4
DOUBLES
#1 Hamilton-Crichton (UA) def. DeChaunac-Sjoqvist (OM) 8-6
#2 Lami-Chada (OM) def. Pahlsson-Johansson (UA) 9-7
#3 Phelan-Toftt (UA) def. Shortall-Barry Hassell (OM) 8-6
