The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss
Auburn
Men's Tennis Posts Third Straight Shutout In SEC Play
3/12/2006 | Men's Tennis
March 12, 2006
OXFORD, Miss. - The No. 8 nationally ranked Ole Miss men's tennis team recorded its third straight shutout in conference play, downing Auburn 7-0 Sunday afternoon at the Palmer/Salloum Tennis Center to improve to 11-2 overall and 3-1 in the SEC.
Ole Miss won its 18th consecutive against Auburn (8-4, 2-2) and improved to 22-0 against Western Division foes since 2002. The Rebels have now won 30 straight regular season home matches dating back to April 6, 2003.
"Unless you're at the matches, you don't realize how close they are," head coach Billy Chadwick said. "This was a very good Auburn team. It feels good to be 3-1 in the SEC."
If you are going to beat the Rebels, your best chance is to win the doubles point. The Rebels came into the match with an impressive winning percentage when claiming the opening point and added to it by sweeping the doubles to take a 1-0 lead. Ole Miss is now 70-3 when they win the doubles point dating back to the 2002 season.
Auburn put up a good fight in singles and made the Rebels earn every point. Jakob Klaeson made it 2-0 with his 7-5, 6-3 win over Auburn's Lukas Marsoun at No. 6 singles. Bram ten Berge put the Rebels in command when he finished off Tiger Nick Lane 6-4, 6-4 at No. 3 singles. ten Berge improved to 2-0 lifetime against Lane.
Erling Tveit came into the season as the heir apparent to three-time All-American Catalin Gard, at No.1 singles. He has lived up to that billing thus far, and Sunday he added to it with a three-set win to clinch the victory.
After losing the first set 6-4 to Auburn's Alex Schweizer, Tveit, ranked No. 12 in the nation, broke at 5-4 in the second to force a third set. Schweizer would break early in the third to go ahead 2-1, but that was it, as Tveit won five straight games to win it 6-2 and move to 12-1 at No. 1 singles. He has now won 19 of his last 21 matches dating back to the fall.
"I was struggling with the wind in the first set and couldn't move my feet very well," Tveit said. "In the second and third sets I was putting the ball in the court more, and he started making more errors."
"This was a great comeback win for Erling," Chadwick noted. "He was frustrated early on, and the other guy was playing great. That's not a good combination. Erling was able to regroup and really play well in the third set. We are proud of him for finding a way to win."
Juan Pablo Di Cesare won his match in straight sets on court four, Robbye Poole completed his comeback win on court five, and then Eric Claesson closed it out with a second set tiebreaker on court two.
The Rebels will take a break from conference play as they travel to Pensacola, Fla., this week to face the defending NCAA Division II National Champions, West Florida Friday at 2 p.m.
DOUBLES
#1 Tveit/Claesson (OM) def. Schweizer/Nugent (AU) 8-3
#2 ten Berge/Di Cesare (OM) def. Lathouwers/Marsoun (AU) 8-6
#3 Poole/Klaeson (OM) def. Dilaj/Lane (AU) 8-4
SINGLES
#1 Erling Tveit (OM) def. Joseph Alex Schweizer (AU) 4-6, 6-4, 6-2
#2 Eric Claesson (OM) def. Robbert Lathouwers (AU) 7-6, 7-6
#3 Bram ten Berge (OM) def. Nick Lane (AU) 6-4, 6-4
#4 Juan Pablo Di Cesare (OM) def. Milan Krnjetin (AU) 6-4, 7-5
#5 Robbye Poole (OM) def. Pawel Dilaj (AU) 4-6, 6-2, 6-4
#6 Jakob Klaeson (OM) def. Lukas Marsoun (AU) 7-5, 6-3
