The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss
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Mississippi St
Men's Tennis SEC Western Division Champions
4/13/2002 | Men's Tennis
April 13, 2002
OXFORD, Miss. - The Ole Miss men's tennis team, ranked No. 4 nationally, downed arch-rival and 26th-ranked Mississippi State 5-1 to capture the SEC Western Division Championship Saturday afternoon on Senior Day at the Palmer/Salloum Tennis Center. This marks nine in a row for the Rebels over the Bulldogs.
With the win, the Rebels improve to 17-4 overall and 8-3 in the SEC as they get ready for the SEC Tournament. Mississippi State drops to 10-10 overall and 3-8 in the SEC.
Ole Miss won its sixth SEC title Saturday. The Rebels won the 1996 regular-season and a share of the overall championship. In 1997 they captured the tournament championship as well as a share of the overall title. In 1999, Ole Miss won the SEC regular season title.
This is the first year that the SEC has split into divisions like basketball. The Rebels will be the No. 2 seed overall in the SEC Tournament behind Georgia. Tennessee defeated Georgia 4-3 Saturday to finish 8-3 and if Auburn beats Alabama, they would finish 8-3, but the Rebels own the tiebreak by virtue of wins over both teams.
"We are proud of the guys," head coach Billy Chadwick said. "This was a great team effort from top to bottom. The pressure was on us coming into the match, and the guys rose to the occasion. The mark of a champion is how well you handle these situations. We look forward to going up to Knoxville and making a run at the SEC Tournament Championship."
After honoring their two seniors Martin Selin and Kristofer Stahlberg, the Rebels stormed out to a 1-0 lead by taking the doubles point. Ole Miss won at No. 3 doubles 8-3 and then clinched the point with an 8-4 win at the No. 2 position. Mississippi State won at No. 1 doubles 6-1, ret. The Rebels are now 14-0 when they win the doubles point.
Ole Miss continued its dominance over State jumping out to a big lead in singles, winning the first set in five of the matches. Senior Martin Selin went out in style, downing Aymeric Henou of MSU 6-1, 6-2 at No. 4 singles to win his 10th match at that position and make it 2-0 Rebels.
Claes Lindholm won his 18th dual match, dominating Michael Hailey 6-2, 6-0 at the No. 6 spot to give the Rebels a 3-0 lead. Lindholm has won five in a row and 10 of his last 11. Moments later, freshman Catalin Gard clinched another match for Ole Miss, finishing off State's Jerome Le Belicard 6-1, 6-1 on court three. He has now won five in a row and eight of his last nine. Paul Ciorascu completed the Rebel scoring with his 6-2, 6-3 win over Bulldog Max Fomine at No. 5 singles.
Mississippi State's only point of the day came at No. 1 singles, where seventh-ranked Romain Ambert defeated 17th-ranked Alex Hartman 6-3, 6-1. The match on court two between senior Kristofer Stahlberg and Rene-Charles Combette was stopped with Stahlberg up a set (6-2) and tied at 2-2 in the second.
The pairings for the SEC Tournament, to be held in Knoxville, Tenn., April 18-21, will be announced Sunday evening. The Rebels will head into the tournament on a five-match win streak. They have won 11 of their last 12 matches.
#4 Ole Miss 5
#26 Mississippi State 1
SINGLES
#1 Romain Ambert (MSU) def. Alex Hartman (OM) 6-3, 6-1
#2 Kristofer Stahlberg (OM) vs. Rene-Charles Combette (MSU) 6-2, 2-2, ret.
#3 Catalin Gard (OM) def. Jerome Le Belicard (MSU) 6-1, 6-1
#4 Martin Selin (OM) def. Aymeric Henou (MSU) 6-1, 6-2
#5 Paul Ciorascu (OM) def. Max Fomine (MSU) 6-2, 6-3
#6 Claes Lindholm (OM) def. Michael Hailey (MSU) 6-2, 6-0
DOUBLES
#1 Ambert-Combette (MSU) def. Stahlberg-Selin (OM) 6-1, ret.
#2 Hartman-Lindholm (OM) def. Henou-Le Belicard (MSU) 8-4
#3 Gard-Ciorascu (OM) def. Hailey-Fomine (MSU) 8-3
