The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss
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Mississippi St
BACK-TO-BACK SEC CHAMPIONS!
4/16/2005 | Men's Tennis
April 16, 2005
STARKVILLE, Miss. - Behind the support of nearly 150 Rebel fans, the No. 3 nationally-ranked Ole Miss men's tennis team defeated Mississippi State 4-3 Saturday afternoon to clinch a share of the overall SEC Championship and spoil Senior Day at the A.J. Pitts Tennis Centre.
The Rebels (20-2, 10-1) won their fourth overall SEC title, including back-to-back titles for the second time. They won their first SEC Championship in 1996 and then won it again in 1997, prior to last year's championship. The Rebels also won the SEC West for the fourth consecutive year.
Ole Miss gained a 1-0 lead by taking the doubles point. At No. 1, Catalin Gard and Eric Claesson downed State's Ivan Bjelica and Jose' Carlo Pinto 8-3. The Norwegian duo of Erling Tveit and Fredrik Aarum finished off MSU's Luiz Carvalho and Phillippe Frayssinoux 8-3 at No. 2 doubles to clinch the point.
After getting the doubles point, the momentum changed hands, as Mississippi State, ranked 20th nationally, won the first set on four of the six courts.
State (11-8, 6-5) evened the match as Florent Girod defeated Rebel senior Karim Alayli 6-2, 6-4 at No. 6 singles. Girod is one of State's top players statistically, improving to 14-3 in dual matches and 8-3 in the SEC.
Ole Miss regained the lead when Gard, ranked No. 6 in the nation, handed MSU's Bjelica a 6-3, 6-3 loss at No. 1 singles. With the win, Gard, a leading candidate for SEC Player of the Year honors, improved to 18-3 at No. 1 singles and finished the SEC regular season at 9-2.
The pivotal match came on court two, where Claesson battled State freshman Pierre Mouillon Mouillon came into the match at 9-1 in the SEC and was playing his first match at No. 2 singles. The Bulldog played a great first set to win 6-1, but Claesson got off to a 2-0 lead in the second set and the match was on. He would go on to win that set 6-1, rallying the Rebel crowd behind him. Claesson dominated the third set 6-0 to put Ole Miss within one point of clinching the SEC Championship.
"I played this guy before," Claesson said. "I knew he was a great player, but I also knew he could fold back. I never felt I couldn't turn it around. The crowd was unbelievable. It felt like we were at home. This was a great team effort."
With courts three and five having split sets, all eyes turned to court four and the battle between State's lone senior, Carvalho and Rebel junior Juan Pablo Di Cesare. Di Cesare won the first set 6-2, but trailed 4-2 in the second before rallying to win four straight games to clinch the Rebels' 15th consecutive victory in the series.
"I told the guys after we won the doubles point, that they would have to be prepared to give three more hours to win the match," head coach Billy Chadwick said. "Eric gets the game ball. Cat was just determined to win. You could see it, and you knew he was going to get it done. We definitely felt like we were playing at home with the tremendous crowd (approximately 150). If they aren't here, we don't win. They kept Eric in the match and the next thing you knew, he was back in it. It was great.
"This is perhaps the best State team in five years, and we knew it would be a difficult assignment to beat them on the road and on senior day. It feels great to be SEC Champions for the second year in a row. It is such a difficult thing to accomplish in this league."
State gained the final two points on courts five and three for the final 4-3 score.
The Rebel victory also clinched the program's seventh 20-win season. The 1974 team became the first Rebel squad to notch 20 wins in a season and was the winningest team until the 1995 squad won 23 matches. In 1996, the Rebels won 21 matches, and in 1997 they won a program best 25 matches. Last year, the Rebels went 22-5.
Florida defeated South Carolina Saturday to also finish 10-1 in the SEC, but the Rebels' 5-2 win over the Gators last weekend makes them the No. 1 seed in the upcoming SEC Tournament for the second year in a row.
The SEC Championships will take place April 21-24 in Athens, Ga., at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex. The Rebels earned a first-round bye. The bracket for the tournament will be released following the completion of play Saturday evening.
DOUBLES
#1 Gard/Claesson (OM) def. Bjelica/Pinto (MSU) 8-3
#2 Tveit/Aarum (OM) def. Carvalho/Frayssinoux (MSU) 8-3
#3 Girod/Mouillon (MSU) def. tenBerge/Klaeson (OM) 7-5, ret.
SINGLES
#1 Catalin Gard (OM) def. Ivan Bjelica (MSU) 6-3, 6-3
#2 Eric Claesson (OM) def. Pierre Mouillon (MSU) 1-6, 6-1, 6-0
#3 Philippe Frayssinoux (MSU) def. Erling Tveit (OM) 6-4, 1-6, 6-2
#4 Juan Pablo Di Cesare (OM) def. Luiz Carvalho (MSU) 6-2, 6-4
#5 Jose' Carlos Pinto (MSU) def. Jakob Klaeson (OM) 6-3, 4-6, 6-0
#6 Florent Girod (MSU) def. Karim Alayli (OM) 6-2, 6-4
