The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss
Middle Tennessee
Ole Miss Downs Middle Tennessee 6-1
2/26/2005 | Men's Tennis
Feb. 26, 2005
Oxford, Miss - The fifth ranked Ole Miss men's tennis team turned a slow start outdoors into a happy ending Saturday, defeating 45th ranked Middle Tennessee 6-1 at the Palmer/Salloum Tennis Center. The win improves the Rebels to 7-1 this spring.
The Rebels got off to a slow and shaky start against the Blue Raiders, losing the doubles point 8-2, 8-3, 6-4. However, Ole Miss responded with a dominating performance, winning all six of their singles matches.
"They (Middle Tennessee) are always good, especially in doubles," said Ole Miss head coach Billy Chadwick. "Once we dropped the doubles point, our guys knew they had to win in singles to win the match. I'm proud of how they responded, winning five of the first six sets."
Junior Juan Pablo Di Cesare got on the board first, cruising to a 6-2 victory over Brandon Allen of Middle Tennessee at the No. 6 spot. Di Cesare would have little trouble in the second set, getting out to a 4-1 lead before winning the overall match, 6-3
The No. 1 spot featured a pair of ranked players, as No. 4 ranked Catalin Gard, the 2004 SEC player of the year, squared off against No. 82 ranked Andreas Siljestrom. Both players traded the lead back and forth in the first set, before Gard took control of the match, winning the final two games to take a 6-4 win in the first set. Gard then cruised to a 4-2 lead in the second set, before Siljestrom responded, eventually tying the game 5-5. Gard then retook control of the match, winning the second set 7-5.
Playing No. 3, freshman Erling Tveit used his first trip outdoors as an Ole Miss Rebel to gain valuable experience. The Oslo, Norway native cruised to a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Middle Tennessee sophomore Kai Schledorn.
Playing No. 2, Ole Miss sophomore Eric Claesson needed a little help over Blue Raider Marco Born. Claesson won the first set 6-4, before dropping the second set 4-6. The two eventually got the crowd involved, with Claesson using the home field advantage to win the third set 6-3. The win gave Ole Miss the overall victory.
Playing No. 4, Ole Miss freshman Bram ten Berge also needed three sets to defeat Middle Tennessee's Greg Pollack 6-4, 3-6, 6-4.
Playing No. 5, Jakob Klaeson defeated Arant Sitaram in three sets as well. Klaeson dropped the first set, 4-6, before rebounding to win the next two sets 6-4, 7-5.
"I was real proud of our three guys (Tveit, ten Berge, Klaeson) that played outdoors for the first time in their careers here," Chadwick said. "They did a real good job of figuring out the elements."
Next up for the Ole Miss Rebels will be a home match on March 1 against Memphis. The match is scheduled to get underway at 2:00 pm.
Doubles
1. Allan/Schledorn (MT) def. Gard/Claesson (OM) 8-2
2. Born/Siljestrom (MT) def. Tveit/Aarum (OM) 8-3
3. Sitaram/Pollack (MT) def. Klaeson/ten Berge (OM) 6-4 (play suspended)
Singles
1.Catalin Gard (OM) def. Andreas Siljestrom (MT) 6-4, 7-5
2.Eric Claesson (OM) def. Marco Born (MT) 6-4, 4-6, 6-3
3.Erling Tveit (OM) def. Kai Schledorn (MT) 6-3, 6-4
4.Bram ten Berge (OM) def. Greg Pollack (MT) 6-4, 3-6, 6-4
5.Jakob Klaeson (OM) def. Arant Sitaram (MT) 4-6, 6-4, 7-5
6.Juan Pablo Di Cesare (OM) def. Brandon Allan (MT) 6-2, 6-3
Records: Ole Miss (7-1); Middle Tennessee (8-2) ORDER OF FINISH: Doubles - (1,2,3) Singles - (6,1,3,2,5,4) Notes: Rebel senior Catalin Gard, ranked No. 4 in the nation, needs just nine wins to reach the 100 win mark as an Ole Miss Rebel. Ole Miss is now 5-1 versus ranked teams in 2005.
-OM Athletic Media Relations-
