TULSA, Okla. Ole Miss men’s tennis senior Erling Tveit advanced to the second round of singles at the NCAA Championships Wednesday with a straight-set win over Texas Tech’s Bojan Szumanski at the Michael D. Case Tennis Center. Tveit will face the winner of Bruno Rosa (Rice) and Ed Corrie (Texas) in the second round Thursday.
Tveit, a two-time All-American in both singles and doubles, broke at 4-4 in the first set and served out. With momentum on his side Tveit opened the second set with a break, which he never relinquished. He broke again at 5-3 to clinch the match 6-4, 6-3.
Unfortunately, Tveit’s teammates won’t be joining him in the second round. Robbye Poole lost in three sets to Ohio State’s Bryan Koniecko. Poole, after gaining a break in the first set, went on to take it 6-4. At 2-3 in the second set, Poole was broken by Koniecko and the Buckeye held on to win 6-2. Koniecko did the same in the decisive set for 6-2, ending Poole’s career at Ole Miss.
Poole finished his career as an All-American and a two-time All-SEC performer. He was a part of three straight SEC West titles, the 2008 SEC Tournament Championship and helped lead the Rebels to two Sweet Sixteen appearances and an Elite Eight showing this year.
Matthias Wellermann came into his match against South Alabama’s Jack Baker, 13-7 in tiebreakers, and on Wednesday, the match came down to two tiebreakers. In the first one, Wellermann trailed 2-0 and then won four straight points to go up 4-2. He served for the first set at 6-5 in the breaker, but Baker answered, winning the final three points. The second-set tiebreaker mirrored the first one, as Wellermann again led 4-2. Baker answered before Wellermann gained a mini break for 6-5. The Jaguar won the next three points for the 7-6(6), 7-6(6) victory.
Doubles action heats up tomorrow, and Ole Miss will have two teams in the 32-team field. Tveit and Jonas Berg, the No. 4 seed, will take on a familiar opponent in Nathan Byrnes and Oleksandr Nedovyesov of Oklahoma State in the first round. Tveit and Berg faced the Cowboy duo twice this season in dual matches. The Rebels’ lost the first one 8-3 and then were tied 5-5 in the second meeting, when the match was stopped after Ole Miss clinched the doubles point.
Wellermann and Bram ten Berge will meet Alexandru Cojanu and Keziel Juneau of William and Mary in the first round.
For live scoring and live video of Thursday’s matches go to www.OleMissSports.com and click on the link in the upcoming events box.
NCAA INDIVIDUAL CHAMPIONSHIPS TULSA, Okla.
Singles
First round Erling Tveit (OM) def. Bojan Szumanski (TT) 6-4, 6-3; Jack Baker (USA) def. Matthias Wellermann (OM) 7-6(6), 7-6(6); Bryan Koniecko (OSU) def. Robbye Poole (OM) 4-6, 6-2, 6-2.
