Rebel Netters Defeat Vanderbilt 5-2

OXFORD, Miss. The No. 9 nationally ranked Ole Miss men’s tennis team won a close doubles point and used it to gain the upper hand against Vanderbilt on their way to a 5-2 win Friday afternoon at the Palmer/Salloum Tennis Center.

The weather was perfect and the crowd was good, but the Rebels got off to a slow start in doubles.   Vanderbilt posted an 8-5 win at No. 3 and then Ole Miss did the same at No. 1.  The point would come down to court two where Jakob Klaeson and Matthias Wellermann faced VU’s Evan Dufuax and Nathan Sachs.  After being down an early break, the Reb duo battled back to force a tiebreaker.  Dufuax and Sachs jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the breaker, but Klaeson and Wellermann won seven of the next nine points to give the Rebels the 1-0 lead.

The Rebels improved to 93-4 when they win the doubles point dating back to the 2002 season. 

Ole Miss won the first set on all six courts to gain an early advantage in singles.   Kalle Norberg and Jonas Berg did what they have done all year, post quick victories to give the Rebels a 3-0 advantage.  The two have now combined for a 25-0 record in dual matches. 

Vanderbilt would not go away quietly though, as they came back in the remaining four matches to win second sets.  One of those was on court six where Andy Mack faced the Rebs’ Klaeson.  For awhile it looked like it might be an easy match for Klaeson as he raced out to a 5-0 lead.  Mack made it interesting before Klaeson won the set 6-4.  The Commodore played a great second set (6-1) to force the deciding one.

With his teammates locked in their third sets, Klaeson, who got out to a big lead once again and held on for 6-3 to clinch the Rebels’ 41^st win in their last 42 home matches.  After the match Klaeson talked about his match and playing in front of his parents, who are visiting from Sweden.

“It was a very strange match,” Klaeson said.  “Neither of us played that well. He is a grinder, so it was hard to get into a rhythm.  I realized that the other guys were struggling a little on the other courts.  I got a good boost knowing there was a little bit more on the line.  This was the first time for my parents to see me play (at Ole Miss), so it was kind of hard playing in front of them.”

Ole Miss improved to 15-2 and 4-1 in the SEC, while Vanderbilt dropped to 8-7 and 2-3 in league play. 

The Rebels will host Kentucky Sunday at 1 p.m.  It’s Kroger Family Cookout Day, and all fans will enjoy free Hot Dogs.

DOUBLES

#1 Tveit/Claesson (OM) def. Preston/Cromydas (VU) 8-5

#2 Klaeson/Matthias Wellermann (OM) def. Dufuax/Sachs (VU) 9-8(5)

#3 Mack/Magarik (VU) def. Berg/Norberg 8-5

SINGLES

#1 Ryan Preston (VU) def. Erling Tveit (OM) 6-3, 6-7(4), 6-3

#2 Nik Cromydas (VU) def. Eric Claesson (OM) 1-6, 6-3, 7-5

#3 Robbye Poole (OM) def. Evan Dufuax (VU) 6-4, 6-7(4), 7-5

#4 Kalle Norberg (OM) def. Vijay Paul (VU) 6-2, 6-0

#5 Jonas Berg (OM) def. Nathan Sachs (VU) 6-2, 6-2

#6 Jakob Klaeson (OM) def. Andy Mack (VU) 6-4, 1-6, 6-3

The University of Mississippi Athletics

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