The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss
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Mississippi St
Men's Tennis Wins Seventh Consecutive Over Mississippi State
4/14/2001 | Men's Tennis
April 14, 2001
OXFORD, Miss. - Sophomore Patrick Chucri battled for over three hours against Mississippi State freshman Max Fomine at No. 6 singles, and won the decisive third set 7-5, to clinch a 4-3 win for the 11th-ranked Rebels over the 19th-ranked Bulldogs on senior day Saturday afternoon. The match that lasted nearly eight hours, and had to be moved indoors after the doubles play due to rain.
With the win, the Rebels (16-6, 7-4) have now won seven straight in the series between the two rivals and have secured a bye in the first round of the SEC Tournament, which begins next week.
"This was one of the greatest Ole Miss/State matches of all time," head coach Billy Chadwick said. "Both teams were evenly matched. I am extremely proud of Patrick for battling for over three hours and finding a way to win. It was a great team effort today."
Mississippi State claimed the opening doubles point for a 1-0 lead. Marco Baron and Chris McDonald defeated James Shortall and Kristofer Stahlberg 8-4 at the No. 1 position. The Bulldogs clinched the point when Rene-Charles Combette and Mathieu Soto beat Martin Selin and Paul Ciorascu.
Shortall, playing his final regular season home match, downed Combette 6-3, 6-2 at No. 3 singles to even the match at 1-1. With the win, he improved to 17-4 in dual matches and now needs one more victory to notch the 90th of his career.
On court two, Stahlberg cruised to a 6-3, 6-2 win over Luiz Carvalho to give the Rebels a 2-1 lead. State would answer when Baron, ranked No. 7 in the nation, edged 10th-ranked Alex Hartman in a thrilling three-set match. Baron won the first set 6-3 and then Hartman came back to take the second 6-2. The two would battle it out in the decisive set, forcing a tiebreaker. Baron won 7-3 to claim the 15th win of his last 16 matches.
Mississippi State (11-9, 5-6) took a 3-2 lead as David Ruiz rallied from a 5-1 deficit in the first set against Selin, for a 7-5, 6-2 win at No. 4 singles. Moments later, Rebel freshman, Ciorascu, defeated Bulldog senior, Soto, 6-4, 3-6, 6-1 to square the match at 3-3.
That left sophomore Patrick Chucri and State freshman Max Fomine on the court at No. 6 singles to decide the win. With Chucri up 5-4 and serving, Fomine would break back to even the set. Chucri then broke Fomine for the second straight time and held serve to win the first set 7-5. Fomine held a 6-5 lead and had four set points in the second set, but Chucri would hold to force a tiebreaker, which State won 7-3 to send it to a third set.
The two battled to 5-5 in the final set and Chucri was down 0-30 on his serve before rallying to hold for a 6-5 lead. Fomine served an ace on the first point of the next game, and then Chucri won four straight points to close the win. It was the only break of either player's serve in the last two sets. Chucri is 2-1 in clinching matches this year as he also was the deciding match in the win over Kentucky.
Ole Miss will now get ready for the SEC Tournament in Lexington, Ky. April 19-22. The Rebels will find out late Sunday, who they will face in the second round.
#11 Ole Miss 4#19 Mississippi State 3
SINGLES#1 Marco Baron (MSU) def. Alex Hartman (OM) 6-3, 2-6, 7-6(3)#2 Kristofer Stahlberg (OM) def. Luiz Carvahlo (MSU) 6-3, 6-2#3 James Shortall (OM) def. Rene-Charles Combette (MSU) 6-3, 6-2#4 David Ruiz (MSU) def. Martin Selin (OM) 7-5, 6-2#5 Paul Ciorascu (OM) def. Mathieu Soto (MSU) 6-4, 3-6, 6-1#6 Patrick Chucri (OM) def. Max Fomine (MSU) 7-5, 6-7(3), 7-5DOUBLES#1 Baron-Chris McDonald (MSU) def. Shortall-Stahlberg (OM) 8-4#2 LeBelicard-Carvahlo (MSU) def. Hartman-Chucri (OM) 7-7, def.#3 Combette-Soto (MSU) def. Selin-Ciorascu (OM) 8-6
