The University of Mississippi Athletics
Men's Tennis Defeats Arkansas 4-2
3/13/2010 | Men's Tennis
OXFORD, Miss. -- The No. 13 nationally ranked Ole Miss men's tennis team handed Arkansas a 4-2 loss Friday at the Palmer/Salloum Tennis Center to win for the second time this season against the Razorbacks and the 22nd in a row in the series.
The Rebels improved to 10-2 overall and 2-1 in the SEC, while Arkansas dropped to 8-5 and 1-2. Ole Miss will host LSU Sunday at 1 p.m., with fans enjoying free Bofield's chicken.
When the two teams met earlier this year in Oxford in the first round of the ITA National Team Indoor, Ole Miss had to rally from losing the doubles point. Not so on Friday, as the Rebels played better in doubles to grab the early 1-0 lead.
The twins, Marcel and Chris Thiemann, defeated Taylor King and Matt Walters 8-6 at No. 2. After Arkansas won a tiebreaker at three, Tucker Vorster and Jonas Lutjen finished off an 8-6 win on court one against the Razorback duo of Dmitry Lebedev and Chris Nott.
Ole Miss got up early in five of the six singles, before a rain delay. When play resumed at 5:30, Lutjen quickly put the Rebels up 2-0, finishing off a dominating 6-0, 6-0 win over Lebedev at No. 3.
Marcel Thiemann made it 3-0 by downing UA's Matt Hogan 6-3, 6-2 at No. 2, and then his brother, Chris, put the finishing touches on a 6-2, 6-1 win over Nikolas Zogaj at No. 4 to clinch the win. He has now clinched half of the Rebels wins this year.
"This is a great way to start of the SEC here at home. We had played them earlier in the year, and it was 4-3, so we knew it would be a tough match," head coach Billy Chadwick said. "You can see how much we've improved in our doubles play from the first time we played Arkansas, and that was the difference in the match. We got off to a great start by winning the doubles, and then took the first sets at 1-5."
The Rebels improved to 5-0 at home this year and 74-3 dating back to April 6, 2003. They will look to extend that streak Sunday when LSU comes calling. The Tigers rallied from a 3-1 deficit to defeat Mississippi State 4-3 in Starkville.
#13 Ole Miss 4
#42 Arkansas 2
DOUBLES
1. Vorster/Lutjen (OM) def. Lebedev/Nott (UA) 8-6
2. Thiemann/Thiemann (OM) def. King/Walters (UA) 8-6
3. Hogan/Zogaj (UA) def. Forberg Skogeng/Fowler (UA) 9-8(3)
Order of Finish: 2, 3, 1
SINGLES
1. Chris Nott (UA) def. Tucker Vorster (OM) 4-6, 6-3, 10-4
2. Marcel Thiemann (OM) def. Matt Hogan (UA) 6-3, 6-2
3. Jonas Lutjen (OM) def. Dmitry Lebedev (UA) 6-0, 6-0
4. Chris Thiemann (OM) def. Nikolas Zogaj (UA) 6-2, 6-1
5. Adrian Forberg Skogeng (OM) vs. Greg Lehmann (UA) 7-5, 2-3, sus.
6. Matt Walters (UA) def. Harry Fowler (OM) 6-2, 6-1
Order of Finish: 3, 2, 4, 6, 1
