The University of Mississippi Athletics
Rebels Knock Out Kentucky To Reach SEC Semis
4/23/2010 | Men's Tennis
LEXINGTON, Ky. - The No. 5 seeded Ole Miss men's tennis team knocked out SEC Tournament host and fourth-seeded Kentucky, with a 4-0 win Friday, to reach the semifinals for the 14th time.
The Rebels, ranked No. 19 in the nation, improved to 18-6 overall and will face the winner of the match between top-seeded Tennessee and LSU, Saturday at 12 p.m. CT. Kentucky, ranked No. 12, fell to 23-8 on the year.
After a short delay due to rain earlier in the day, Ole Miss jumped on the Wildcats in doubles to take the early 1-0 lead. Tucker Vorster and Jonas Lutjen won 8-4 at No. 2, and then Marcel and Chris Thiemann, ranked No. 26, defeated 25th-ranked Eric Quigley and Brad Cox 8-5 at No. 1.
Lutjen came up with another big win at No. 3 singles, playing against Cox, a junior. Lutjen won 6-1, 6-4 to put the Rebels ahead 2-0. Marcel Thiemann, ranked No. 49 in singles posted his biggest win of his career, knocking off 13th-ranked Quigley 6-4, 6-2 at No. 1 to increase the lead to 3-0.
With the Rebels needing just one more point, freshman Harry Fowler came up with one of the biggest wins in his short collegiate career, defeating Kentucky senior Alex Lambropoulos 6-2, 7-6(2) at No. 6 singles.
"We're really getting better with every match, you could see so much improvement from the last time we played them," head coach Billy Chadwick said. "The guys played with great energy. We played great in doubles at all three positions. Marcel played the best match of his career. Jonas is continuing his winning ways and played a great match against Cox. He did an excellent job of holding serve and finding a way to break. We are proud of Harry for beating a senior to clinch. That was a huge tiebreaker, because they were beating us at 4 and 5, and it was even at 2."
The Rebels have now won 11 of the last 12 meetings with Kentucky. They are hoping for another shot at Tennessee, who beat them 7-0 during the regular season.
"We know it's going to be a tough match, if we're playing Tennessee," Chadwick said. "They are very good from top to bottom, so we will need to win the doubles point if we're going to have a chance."
#5 Ole Miss 4
#4 Kentucky 0
DOUBLES
1. Thiemann/Thiemann (OM) def. Quigley/Cox (UK) 8-5
2. Vorster/Lutjen (OM) def. Gonzalez/Lambropoulos (UK) 8-4
3. Forberg Skogeng/Fowler (OM) vs. Musialek/Rossi (UK) 6-4, sus.
Order of Finish: 2, 1
SINGLES
1. Marcel Thiemann (OM) def. Eric Quigley (UK) 6-4, 6-2
2. Tucker Vorster (OM) vs. Alex Musialek (UK) 6-4, 3-4, sus.
3. Jonas Lutjen (OM) def. Brad Cox (UK) 6-1, 6-4
4. Chris Thiemann (OM) vs. Anthony Rossi (UK) 6-7(5), sus.
5. Adrian Forberg Skogeng (OM) vs. Alberto Gonzalez (UK) 1-6, 4-5, sus.
6. Harry Fowler (OM) vs. Alex Lambropoulos (UK) 6-2,7-6(2)
Order of Finish: 3, 1, 6
