Rebel Netters Top LSU 4-2 To Reach SEC Semifinals

AUBURN, Ala. -- The top-seeded Ole Miss men’s tennis team won a key doubles point on its way to a 4-2 win over eighth-seeded LSU Friday in the quarterfinal round of the SEC Tournament.  The Rebels will face the No. 4 seed, Florida, in the semifinals Saturday at 11 a.m.

This marks the 13^th time for the Rebels (22-2) to reach the semifinals and the third time in four years they will face Florida in the semifinals.  Last year, Ole Miss defeated the Gators 4-1 in the final and in 2006 and 2007, the Rebels won 4-2 in the semifinals.  Florida rallied from a 3-1 deficit to knock off Alabama in the quarterfinals. 

The Rebels won the SEC Championship this year with an 11-0 league record.  A big reason for that was the play of junior Kalle Norberg, the only player in the SEC to go undefeated in singles, as well as the four freshmen.  They would be needed on this day for the Rebels to come away victorious.

With the Rebels up 3-2 the match would come down to one of the freshman twins at five and six.  With his brother Chris Thiemann, trailing 3-0 in the third set, Marcel Thiemann gained a break at 4-4 in the second against LSU’s Julien Gauthier and served it out to clinch the victory, his fourth match-clincher of the year.

“We knew it would be a close match,” head coach Billy Chadwick said.  “It’s hard to win any match in this league easy.  We were fortunate to get the doubles point and then Devin and Kalle played great to put us ahead 3-0. Marcel closed it out for us.”

In the first meeting between the two, LSU won the doubles. This time it would be the Rebels taking the all-important point.  In a battle between two of the nation’s top teams, the No. 3 ranked LSU duo of Michael Venus and Neal Skupski got the better of top-ranked Jonas Berg and Bram ten Berge, 8-4 on court one.    At No. 2, freshman Devin Britton and sophomore Tucker Vorster teamed up to post a 9-7 win against the Tiger tandem of seniors James Cluskey and Jonathan Tragardh.  The point came down to a break at No. 3 with Norberg and freshman Otto Sauer battling Sebastian Carlsson and Julien Gauthier.  At 7-6, the Rebels held off the Tiger team to clinch the 1-0 lead.

In singles, Britton gave the Rebels a 2-0 advantage with his 6-2, 6-3 win over Cluskey at No. 2.    Norberg won for the 14^th time in a row, downing Skupski 6-3, 6-2 at No. 3 to put Ole Miss up 3-0.

LSU claimed victories on courts four and one in that order to make it 3-2.  Sixth-ranked Venus avenged a regular season loss to Berg, winning 6-3, 7-5 at No.1.  Carlsson handed ten Berge a 6-4, 6-4 loss on four.

The Rebels defeated the Gators 4-2 in the regular season meeting in Gainesville, a match that was delayed several hours by rain and didn’t end until after midnight.

DOUBLES

1. Venus/Skupski (LSU) def. ten Berge/Berg (OM) 8-4

2. Britton/Vorster (OM) def. Cluskey/Tragardh (LSU) 9-7

3. Norberg/Sauer (OM) def. Carlsson/Gauthier (LSU) 8-6

Order of Finish: 1, 2, 3

SINGLES

1. Michael Venus (LSU) def. Jonas Berg (OM) 6-3, 7-5

2. Devin Britton (OM) def. James Cluskey (LSU) 6-2, 6-3

3. Kalle Norberg (OM) def. Neal Skupski (LSU) 6-3, 6-2

4. Sebastian Carlsson (LSU) def. Bram ten Berge (OM) 6-4, 6-4

5. Marcel Thiemann (OM) def. Julien Gauthier (LSU) 7-5, 6-4

6. Christoph Thiemann (OM) vs. Mark Bowtell (LSU) 5-7, 6-1, 0-3, sus.

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

The University of Mississippi Athletics

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