Rebels Clinch Seventh Straight SEC West Title

OXFORD, Miss. The No. 7 nationally ranked Ole Miss men's tennis team clinched its seventh straight SEC West title Sunday with a 5-2 win over No. 16 LSU at the Palmer/Salloum Tennis Center.  

With the win, the Rebels improved to 17-4 overall and 8-2 in league play.  LSU fell to 12-7 and 5-5 in the SEC.

Ole Miss has won the SEC West every year since the league split into divisions in 2002.  In fact, the Rebels own a 32-2 record against division foes since 2002.  Ole Miss has now eight of the last nine meetings with LSU.

“This was a great accomplishment,” head coach Billy Chadwick said. We are starting to play at the top of our game.  This was a tough LSU team coming off wins over Florida and Mississippi State on the road.  Bram (ten Berge) is out and then Jonas (Berg) came down with the stomach bug.  The guys picked it up and filled the void.” 

The Rebels got on the board first by winning a tight doubles point.  After LSU took the No. 1 match 8-2, Matthias Wellermann and Robbye Poole defeated the Tiger pair of Kevin Dessauer and Colt Gaston 8-4 at No. 2.  That set up the deciding match on court three between Tucker Vorster and Jakob Klaeson and the LSU team of Sebastian Carlsson and Jan Zelezny.  The Tiger duo raced out to a 5-2 lead, before Vorster and Klaeson rallied to even the match. At 6-6, the two broke and served it out to clinch the point.

With Bram ten Berge already out his fifth straight match with an injury, Jonas Berg, who was battling the stomach bug, sat out in singles.  No problem, as Wellermann downed Zelezny 6-3, 6-2 at No. 2 singles to put Ole Miss up 2-0.

Poole added to the lead (3-0) when he finished off a straight set win (6-4, 6-2) over LSU’s Gaston on court three. Moments after that, Kalle Norberg sealed the victory with his 6-2, 6-3 win against Kevin Dessauer on court four.

"It was good to play as well outside as we have indoors,” Chadwick said.  “We are excited about the upcoming SEC Tournament, but we have one more match at home against Mississippi State.  We want to encourage everyone to come out next Saturday and help us beat State and enjoy free hot dogs.”

For seniors Poole, Wellermann, Klaeson and Erling Tveit, they are four-time SEC West Champions, and that’s something they don’t take lightly.  They understand that every match in this league is a battle, and they were ready on Sunday.

“We knew it would be hard,” Wellermann said.  “LSU counts on the doubles, so it was big to get that first point.  Robbye played great, he carried me.  We played well and won.  In singles, it was a good match-up for me.  I executed well.  We are playing with more confidence now, and we are getting better outdoors.”

"This was important for me personally as well as the team,” Poole said.  “I needed to start playing well.  We were disappointed after the Florida match.  We started taking it one day at a time, and it’s worked.   That’s the best doubles I’ve played.  I like playing with Matthias.”

LSU didn’t get on the board until the match was clinched.  They picked up a win at No. 6 singles, as the reigning SEC Freshman of the Week, Carlsson, defeated Vorster.  Their other point came at No. 1 where Michael Venus outlasted Tveit in a third set tiebreaker.

The Rebels will host Mississippi State next Saturday at 11 a.m. to kick off Red/Blue festivities.  Fans can enjoy free hot dogs compliments of Kroger.

#7 Ole Miss  5

#16 LSU  2

 

DOUBLES

1. Venus/Cluskey (LSU) def. Tveit/Berg (OM) 8-3

2. Poole/Wellermann (OM) def. Dessauer/Gaston (LSU) 8-4

3. Tucker Vorster/Klaeson (OM) def. Carlsson/Zelezny (LSU) 8-6

Order of Finish: 1, 2, 3

SINGLES

1. Michael Venus (LSU) def. Erling Tveit (OM) 6-1, 3-6, 7-6(8)

2. Matthias Wellermann (OM) def. Jan Zelezny (LSU) 6-3, 6-2

3. Robbye Poole (OM) def. Colt Gaston (LSU) 6-4, 6-2

4. Kalle Norberg (OM) def. Kevin Dessauer (LSU) 6-2, 6-3

5. Jakob Klaeson (OM) def. Julien Gauthier (LSU) 6-4, 6-4

6. Sebastian Carlsson (LSU) def. Tucker Vorster (OM) 6-3, 6-4

Order of Finish: 2, 3, 4, 6, 5, 1

The University of Mississippi Athletics

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