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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss
Auburn
Rebel Netters Defeat Auburn 5-2 In Tough Match
3/15/2002 | Men's Tennis
March 15, 2002
OXFORD, Miss. - The No. 9 nationally-ranked Ole Miss men's tennis team rallied from losing the doubles point to 13th-ranked Auburn, to go ahead 3-2, and then sophomore Claes Lindholm finished off Estevam Strecker in the third set at No. 6 singles, to clinch a 5-2 Rebel victory Friday afternoon at the Palmer/Salloum Tennis Center.
Auburn (8-4, 3-2) took a 1-0 lead by claiming the doubles point with wins at Nos. 1 and 2 doubles. Ole Miss (9-3, 3-2) won at the No. 3 position. The Rebels improved to 2-3 when losing the doubles point.
Junior Alex Hartman, ranked No. 33, evened the match when he downed 97th-ranked Rameez Junaid 6-3, 6-2 at the top spot. Senior Martin Selin won his first set against Auburn's Mark Kovacs, 6-4 at No. 4 singles and was serving at 5-4 in the second for the match. Kovacs broke back, but Selin would win the final two games for a 2-1 Rebel lead.
At No. 3 singles, freshman Catalin Gard rallied from losing the first set (6-4) to the Tigers' Andrew Colombo to take the second set 6-2. The two went to a third-set tiebreaker, which Gard led 5-2, before Colombo came back to win it 7-5 to square the match at 2-2.
Of the three remaining matches on court, the Rebels won the first set in only one (No. 2). On court five, Paul Ciorascu dropped his first set against Mark Van Elden, but he would come back to win 4-6, 7-5, 6-3, giving Ole Miss a 3-2 lead with courts two and six in the third sets.
Claes Lindholm lost his first set to Estevam Strecker 7-6(6) at No. 6 singles, but battled back to claim the second 7-5. At 4-3 in the third on court six, Lindholm broke Strecker to go ahead 5-3. Lindholm served it out to clinch the Rebel victory and improve to 11-1 in dual matches.
On court two, senior Kristofer Stahlberg won his first set against 29th-ranked Tiago Ruffoni 6-4 and served for the match. Ruffoni, up 6-5 in the second, broke to force a third set. Stahlberg claimed the early break in the third set and held a 5-3 lead and match point, when the crowd erupted as Lindholm clinched. On the next point, Stahlberg wrapped up the third set 6-3, for the final 5-2 score. Stahlberg has now defeated four ranked opponents in the last six matches.
The Rebels return to action Sunday, as they host 18th-ranked Alabama at 1 p.m. at the Palmer/Salloum Tennis Center. Alabama defeated Mississippi State 4-3 on Friday in Starkville.
#9 Ole Miss 5
#13 Auburn 2
SINGLES
#1 Alex Hartman (OM) def. Rameed Junaiz (AU) 6-3, 6-2
#2 Kristofer Stahlberg (OM) def. Tiago Ruffoni (AU) 6-4, 5-7, 6-3
#3 Andrew Colombo (AU) def. Catalin Gard (OM) 6-2, 2-6, 7-6(5)
#4 Martin Selin (OM) def. Mark Kovacs (AU) 6-4, 7-5
#5 Paul Ciorascu (OM) def. Mark Van Elden (AU) 4-6, 7-5, 6-3
#6 Claes Lindholm (OM) def. Estevam Strecker (AU) 6-7(6), 6-2, 7-5
DOUBLES
#1 Kovacs-Colombo (AU) def. Stahlberg-Selin (OM) 8-6
#2 Junaid-Andre Boz (AU) def. Hartman-Chucri (OM) 9-8(3)
#3 Gard-Ciorascu (OM) def. Strecker-Ruffoni (AU) 8-6
