The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss
SEC Championships - Florida
Men's Tennis To Play For SEC Championship Sunday
4/22/2006 | Men's Tennis
April 22, 2006
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - For the second time in three years, the Ole Miss men's tennis team and Georgia will square off in the final of the SEC Championships as both teams posted semifinal wins Saturday at the Alabama Tennis Complex. The two teams will face off at 2 p.m. Sunday.
Ole Miss (20-4), the No. 3 seed in the tournament, won the doubles point and got straight set wins at Nos. 3, 4 and 6 for a 4-2 win over No. 2 seed Florida, to reach the SEC Championships final for the third time. Georgia (24-0) downed a surprising Mississippi State, 4-0 in the other semifinal.
"This was a great win, and we are extremely excited to be in the final of the conference tournament," head coach Billy Chadwick said. "We did a great job in doubles at all three positions. Bram (ten Berge), Pablo (Di Cesare) and Jakob (Klaeson) played great, winning in straight sets. That was probably the best match Bram's played, because No. 3 (Nestor Briceno) is possibly their (Florida) position. Pablo stepped up big for us at No. 4, and Jakob out-fought his guy at No. 6.
This will be the third time for Ole Miss and Georgia to meet in the championship final. The Rebels defeated the Bulldogs 4-2 in the 1997 final and then Georgia came back to beat Ole Miss in a thrilling 4-3 match in 2004.
For the second straight day, Ole Miss gained the early 1-0 lead by taking the doubles point. The Rebels' won 8-3 at No. 1, and then Robbye Poole and Jakob Klaeson clinched the point with an 8-4 win at No. 3 doubles. The Rebels improved to 78-3 when they win the doubles point since the 2002 season.
The 2006 SEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year Bram ten Berge made it 2-0 with his impressive straight set win over first team All-SEC honoree Nestor Briceno at No. 3 singles.
Florida answered, picking up two wins on courts one and five to even the match at 2-2. Vladimir Obradovic defeated Rebel sophomore Erling Tveit 6-1, 6-2 at No. 1, and Chris Brandi beat OM's Poole, 6-1, 6-3 at No. 5.
The Rebels regained the lead for good, when senior All-SEC Juan Pablo Di Cesare finished off UF's Stefan Tell 6-2, 6-2 on court four. With the win, he improved to 19-3 in dual matches.
Klaeson clinched the victory, winning a close second set against Gator Ryan Sherry, 7-5 at No. 6. He won the first set 6-1.
In one of the closest matches the Bulldogs had all year, the Rebels gave Georgia a fight before coming up short 4-3 in Oxford on April 9.
"This is what we wanted, another opportunity at Georgia," Chadwick said. "We were so close in the previous match against them. It will be important for us to get off to a good start with the doubles like we did today."
With the win over Florida, the Rebels recorded the eighth 20-win campaign in the history of the program, and head coach Billy Chadwick notched his 400th career victory with the Rebels. Earlier this season, Chadwick recorded his 500th career victory overall with 107 wins as the head women's coach at Ole Miss from 1979-1986.
DOUBLES
#1 Tveit/Claesson (OM) def. Obradovic/Tell (UF) 8-3
#2 ten Berge/Di Cesare (OM) vs. Ouellette/Brandi (UF) 7-6
#3 Poole/Klaeson (OM) def. Briceno/Holmia (UF) 8-4
SINGLES
#1 Vladimir Obradovic (UF) def. Erling Tveit (OM) 6-1, 6-2
#2 Eric Claesson (OM) vs. Greg Ouellette (UF) 2-6, 2-5
#3 Bram ten Berge (OM) def. Nestor Briceno (UF) 6-3, 6-1
#4 Juan Pablo Di Cesare (OM) def. Stefan Tell (UF) 6-2, 6-2
#5 Chris Brandi (UF) def. Robbye Poole (OM) 6-1, 6-3
#6 Jakob Klaeson (OM) def. Ryan Sherry (UF) 6-1, 7-5
