FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. Sophomore Kalle Norberg has been a thorn in Tennessee’s side, and he came up big again, clinching a 4-2 victory over the third-seeded Volunteers to send the No. 2 seed, Ole Miss, to the SEC Championship final Saturday at the Billingsley Tennis Center. The Rebels will face fourth-seeded Florida, a 4-2 winner over Georgia, Sunday at 1 p.m.
The Rebels are in the championship match for the fifth time overall, the third year in a row and the fourth time in five years. With the win over Tennessee, the Rebels (20-4, 9-2) notched the program’s 10th 20-win season and ninth under head coach Billy Chadwick.
With Ole Miss needing one more point to secure the victory and the match on court one having just split sets, Norberg handed Matteo Fago his first loss in 15 matches at No. 5 singles. The key to the match was a first-set tiebreaker, which Norberg won 7-6(4). He used the momentum to win the second set 6-3, clinching his third consecutive Rebel victory against the Volunteers. The Sweden native clinched last year’s regular season meeting (4-3) in Knoxville as well as this years.
“It was a big win for me,” Norberg said. I could see that Jonas (Berg) won quick, Jakob (Klaeson) was quick and that Tennessee was playing well at the top. I knew I needed to get the win for us.”
Against a team as good as Tennessee (21-3) the Rebels knew it would be necessary to get the doubles point, and they did. The No. 5 ranked team of Erling Tveit and Jonas Berg dominated 12th-ranked Kaden Hensel and J.P. Smith 8-1 at No. 1 doubles. Matthias Wellermann and Robbye Poole remained undefeated (7-0) at No. 2 doubles with a 9-7 win against UT’s Davey Sandgren and Jeremy Tweedt to clinch the point.
Tennessee evened the match when Boris Conkic downed Robbye Poole 6-1, 6-1 at No. 3 singles. Ole Miss regained the lead as Berg cruised to a 6-1, 6-1 win over Sandgren at No. 4 singles. He has now won 11 in a row and 21 of his last 22 matches.
Senior Jakob Klaeson increased the Rebels’ lead to 3-1 with a 6-4, 6-1 win over Tweedt at No. 6 singles. Tennessee pulled to within one (3-2) as Smith, ranked No. 33, came back to defeat 20th-ranked Wellermann 3-6, 6-1, 6-3 on court three.
“(Tennessee) is a tough team,” head coach Billy Chadwick said. “We knew they had been playing better than any team coming in. The key to the match was doubles. We did a great job at Nos. 4, 5 and 6, especially at No. 5. (Tennessee’s Matteo Fago) was 11-0 in the league so that was a great match for Kalle. It was very fortunate we clinched at No. 5 because (Kaden) Hensel was playing very well at No. 1.”
The Rebels will be looking to avenge a loss in tomorrow’s championship match to Florida. The Gators defeated Ole Miss 5-2 in the regular season meeting in Oxford.
SEC MEN’S TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIP FAYETTEVILLE, Ark.
Semifinals
#6 Ole Miss 4, #8 Tennessee 2
DOUBLES
1. Tveit/Berg (OM) def Hensel/Smith (UT) 8-1
2. Wellermann/ Poole (OM) def. Sandgren/Tweedt (UT) 9-7
3. Tucker Vorster/Klaeson (OM) vs. Fago/Conkic (UT) 7-6, sus.
Order of Finish: 1, 2
SINGLES
1. Erling Tveit (OM) vs. Kaden Hensel (UT) 6-3, 5-7, sus.
2. J.P. Smith (UT) def. Matthias Wellermann (OM) 3-6, 6-1, 6-3
3. Boris Conkic (UT) def. Robbye Poole (OM) 6-1, 6-1
4. Jonas Berg (OM) def. Davey Sandgren (UT) 6-1, 6-1
5. Kalle Norberg (OM) def. Matteo Fago (UT) 7-6(4), 6-3
6. Jakob Klaeson (OM) def. Jeremy Tweedt (UT) 6-4, 6-1
Order of Finish: 3, 4, 6, 2, 5
