Ole Miss Loses Close One to No. 5 Georgia

OXFORD, Miss. -- The No. 11 nationally-ranked Ole Miss men's tennis team won the doubles point against a talented No. 5 ranked Georgia team, but the Bulldogs would come back to take a hard-fought 4-3 win Friday afternoon at the Palmer/Salloum Tennis Center.

Ole Miss (11-4, 2-2) took the early lead, claiming the doubles in exciting fashion. Alex Hartman and Patrick Chucri dominated Chad Carlson and Nicolas Boeker 8-2 at No. 2 doubles, and then Georgia's Lesley Joseph and Bo Hodge defeated Martin Selin and Conor Casey 8-3 at No. 3 doubles. The 25th-ranked Rebel duo of James Shortall and Kristofer Stahlberg upset the nation's No. 1 team of Matias Boeker and Travis Parrott 9-8(3) to clinch the point.

The Bulldogs would rally to take a 3-1 lead in the match. Joseph beat Rebel Selin 6-4, 6-2 at No. 4 singles to tie the match. Paul Ciorascu lost the first set in his match to Parrott 6-4. Ciorascu had a chance to win the second set serving at 5-4, but ended up losing 7-5 as Georgia took the lead 2-1. Chucri was in the same position, having lost his first set to Georgia's Brandon Wagner. He would rally to force a tiebreaker in the second set before falling 6-4, 7-6(1). Georgia has only lost one match combined all year at the bottom two positions.

With Georgia up 3-1, Stahlberg, ranked No. 38 in the nation, finished off 43rd-ranked Chad Carlson 6-4, 7-5 at No. 3 singles to make it 3-2, as courts one and two were locked in the third sets. Stahlberg has won 13 in a row and has only lost one set in all 13 dual matches this spring. With his doubles win, Stahlberg is a combined 21-2 in singles and doubles in dual matches.

Matias Boeker, ranked No. 5 in the nation, came back to beat 29th-ranked Shortall 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 at No. 2 singles to clinch the win for Georgia. At No. 1 singles, Georgia rallied from 5-2 down in the first set to win in a tiebreaker, but Ole Miss' Hartman would rally to knock off the No. 2 player in the country, Hodge, 6-7(4), 6-4, 4-3, ret.

"We came out strong in doubles and won an exciting match over the best team in the nation to clinch the point," head coach Billy Chadwick said. "Kristofer came up big in defeating a guy who was 12-0 coming into the match. Alex posted a huge win over one of the top guys in the nation. They (Georgia) have more experience at No. 5 and 6 singles, and they proved it today. At this point in the season, to beat a team as good as Georgia, we have to improve."

The Rebels return to action Sunday, as they host South Carolina at noon.

#5 Georgia 4

#11 Ole Miss 3

SINGLES#1 Alex Hartman (OM) def. Bo Hodge (UGA) 6-7(4), 6-4, 4-3, ret.#2 Matias Boeker (UGA) def. James Shortall (OM) 3-6, 6-3, 6-3#3 Kristofer Stahlberg (OM) def. Chad Carlson (UGA) 6-4, 7-5#4 Lesley Joseph (UGA) def. Martin Selin (OM) 6-4, 6-2#5 Travis Parrott (UGA) def. Paul Ciorascu (UGA) 6-4, 7-5#6 Brandon Wagner (UGA) def. Patrick Chucri (OM) 6-4, 7-6(1)DOUBLES#1 Shortall-Stahlberg (OM) def. M. Boeker-Parrott (UGA) 9-8(3)#2 Hartman-Chucri (OM) def. Carlson-Nicolas Boeker (UGA) 8-2#3 Joseph-Hodge (UGA) def. Selin-Conor Casey (OM) 8-3

The University of Mississippi Athletics

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