The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss
Memphis
Men's Tennis Shuts Out Memphis 4-0
3/1/2011 | Men's Tennis
March 1, 2011
OXFORD, Miss. -- The Ole Miss men's tennis team has been looking forward to the start of Southeastern Conference play for awhile, but first they had to take care of business against a much improved Memphis team. The Rebels did just that, shutting out the Tigers 4-0 here Tuesday at the Palmer/Salloum Tennis Center.
With the win, the Rebels improved to 5-2 as they get set to welcome No. 12 Kentucky and No. 22 Vanderbilt this weekend for the start of SEC play.
"It was a very good effort for a midweek match with a gigantic SEC weekend coming up," head coach Billy Chadwick said. We watched the results closely from Memphis, and they impressed us with their win over Oklahoma State. The guys knew they had to be at their best, and we played well today." We need to have two really good practices and be prepared to be at our best on Friday."
In last year's match against Memphis the doubles point came down to a tiebreaker. This time, the Rebels jumped on the Tigers at one and two. With Kalle Norberg out of the lineup, Tucker Vorster and Jonas Lutjen teamed up for an 8-1 win at two, and then the twins, Marcel Thiemann and Chris Thiemann grabbed an 8-5 win at No. 1 to clinch the point.
In singles, Ole Miss won five first sets. Lutjen, who clinched the win over Tulane, downed the Tiger's David Henry 6-3, 6-0 at No. 3 and then Marcel Thiemann finished off Memphis freshman Joe Salisbury 6-0, 6-2 at No. 1 to make it 3-0 Rebels.
"It was great to see Marcel picking up where he left off last spring. He's one of the better players in the entire nation," Chadwick said. "He'll be going against a player [this Friday], Eric Quigley, who is ranked top five in the nation. But Marcel beat him the last two times they played."
Freshman Johan Backstrom dominated UM's John Taylor 6-1, 6-2 at No. 5 to clinch the Rebels' third straight win.
"It's always great to clinch, it was my second time to do so," Backstrom said. "Today was a great team win, and that's the most important thing. I'm really excited about this weekend. I've been looking forward to it. I've heard how great both teams are. I know it will be tough, but it's going to be a lot of fun."
Once the match was clinched, the two teams elected to stop the remaining matches. Ole Miss was up in two of them and up in the second set in the other.
Friday's SEC opener against Kentucky is set for 2 p.m. at the Palmer/Salloum Tennis Center. Admission to all home matches is free.
DOUBLES
1. Thiemann-Thiemann (OM) def. Jordan Smith-David Henry (UM) 8-5
2. Vorster-Lutjen (OM) def. Salisbury-David O'Hare (UM) 8-1
3. Nasemann-Taylor (UM) def. Backstrom-Forberg Skogeng (OM) 6-3, ret.
Order of Finish: 2, 1, 3
SINGLES
1. Marcel Thiemann (OM) def. Joe Salisbury (UM) 6-0, 6-2
2. Tucker Vorster (OM) vs. Leon Nasemann (UM) 1-6, 4-1
3. Jonas Lutjen (OM) def. David Henry (UM) 6-3, 6-0
4. Chris Thiemann (OM) vs. Johnny Grimal (UM) 7-5
5. Johan Backstrom (OM) def. John Taylor (UM) 6-1, 6-2
6. Adrian Forberg Skogeng (OM) vs. Cedric DeZutter (UM) 6-1, 3-1
Order of Finish: 3, 1, 5
