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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss
Ohio State
Men's Tennis Downs No. 22 Ohio State 6-1
3/9/2003 | Men's Tennis
March 9, 2003
OXFORD, Miss. - The No. 8 ranked Ole Miss men's tennis team downed No. 22 Ohio State 6-1 Sunday afternoon at the Palmer/Salloum Tennis Center. With the win, the Rebels improved to 9-2, while Ohio State dropped to 10-4.
Ole Miss won the doubles to take a 1-0 lead in the match. The Rebels got wins at the No. 1 and 3 positions 8-4 and came back from a 5-2 deficit on court two to win 9-7. The Rebels are now 25-1 when they win the doubles point dating back to last season.
The Rebels got straight set wins at No. 2 and 3 singles to build a 3-0 advantage. Sophomore Catalin Gard, ranked No. 33 in the nation, dominated 65th-ranked Vincent Ng 6-1, 6-1 on court two, and junior Paul Ciorascu defeated OSU's Conor Casey 6-4, 6-2 on court three.
Senior Patrick Chucri downed the Buckeye's Brenton Contini 6-3, 6-2 at No. 5 singles to clinch the victory for Ole Miss. Enjoying his best season as a Rebel, Chucri is now 11-5 overall and 6-2 at No. 5 singles.
"The team was focused and prepared to play," head coach Billy Chadwick said. "It was the first time for us to play in the wind, and we did a great job adjusting. We ended up winning 6-1, but several of the matches were close. This is a very good Ohio State team. It was good a test for us outside as we prepare to play two outstanding teams, Auburn and Alabama, next weekend."
Claes Lindholm remained undefeated in dual matches this year at 9-0 with his 6-2, 7-5 win over Dennis Mertens at the No. 4 position. He has now won 18 straight dual matches dating back to last year and is 31-2 lifetime at Ole Miss.
With Ole Miss up 5-0, OSU freshman Ross Wilson gave the Buckeyes their only point of the day defeating Rebel sophomore Karim Alayli 6-7(6), 6-1, 6-1 at No. 6 singles.
In a battle between two of the top players in collegiate tennis, senior All-American Alex Hartman, ranked 16th in the nation, won his 97th career match by coming back to beat 13th-ranked Jeremy Wurtzman at the top spot. Wurtzman won the first set 6-4, but Hartman rallied in the second to win 7-5 and force a deciding set. With the overall match already decided, the two could have played a supertiebreaker to decide the outcome, but the two elected to finish out the third set. Hartman seized the momentum early and never let up, winning 6-1 to move to 9-2 at No. 1 singles and 19-6 overall.
Ole Miss hits the road next weekend for matches against SEC Western Division rivals Auburn and Alabama. The Rebels will play at No. 19 Auburn Friday at 2 p.m. and the travel to face Alabama Sunday at 1 p.m.
#8 Ole Miss 6
#22 Ohio State 1
SINGLES
#1 Alex Hartman (OM) def. Jeremy Wurtzman (OSU) 4-6, 7-5, 6-1
#2 Catalin Gard (OM) def. Vincent Ng (OSU) 6-1, 6-1
#3 Paul Ciorascu (OM) def. Conor Casey (OSU) 6-4, 6-2
#4 Claes Lindholm (OM) def. Dennis Mertens (OSU) 6-2, 7-5
#5 Patrick Chucri (OM) def. Brenton Contini (OSU) 6-3, 6-2
#6 Ross Wilson (OSU) def. Karim Alayli (OM) 6-7(6), 6-1, 6-1
DOUBLES
#1 Hartman-Lindholm (OM) def. Ng-Casey (OSU) 8-4
#2 Gard-Ciorascu (OM) def. Wurtzman-Contini (OSU) 9-7
#3 Chucri-Alayli (OM) def. Wilson-Scott Green (OSU) 8-4
