The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss
SEC Indoor Championships
Twins To Play For SEC Indoor Doubles Title
1/15/2012 | Men's Tennis
Jan. 15, 2012
LEXINGTON, Ky. - An action-packed day of tennis at the Boone Tennis Complex concluded with the Ole Miss senior duo of Marcel Thiemann and Chris Thiemann advancing to the doubles final at the SEC Indoor Championships with consecutive wins against Kentucky teams.
In the semifinals, the twins trailed 7-5 against UK's Panav Jha and Eric Quigley with the Wildcat duo serving. The twins were able to break and hold to tie it up at 7. They broke again and served it out to become the first Rebels to reach the finals in either singles or doubles since 2008.
Earlier in the day, the duo defeated the other Kentucky team of Alex Musialek and Alejandro Gomez by the same score of 9-7 in the quarterfinals. The Thiemann's will face Georgia's Wil Spencer and Garrett Brasseaux in the final Monday at 9:30 a.m. CT.
"It's great to have a finalist at the SEC Indoor," head coach Billy Chadwick said. The twins did a great job of battling back in that last match, and we're looking forward to the finals."
Ole Miss began the day with three players in the quarterfinals of singles, and both Jonas Lutjen and Nik Scholtz advanced to the semifinals before bowing out. Freshman William Kallberg was first on the court hoping to re-create the magic from his big win on Saturday against the nation's No. 3 ranked player. Unfortunately, he ran into Kentucky's Anthony Rossi, who ended up winning 6-0, 6-4.
Jonas Lutjen became the first Rebel to advance to the semifinals with a huge win over the nation's No. 5 ranked player, Kentucky's Eric Quigley. In a high-quality match, the two split sets with Quigley going on top 7-5 to start the match. Lutjen was able to take the second set 7-5, when Quigley double-faulted on set point. After an early break in the decisive set by Quigley, Lutjen re-gained the momentum and broke twice for a 5-3 lead. He held to win it 6-3.
Lutjen faced Georgia's Sadio Doumbia, ranked No. 10 in the nation, in the semifinals. Doumbia needed only two sets in his quarterfinal match and beat Lutjen 6-3, 6-4.
Another Rebel who enjoyed an outstanding debut, freshman Nik Scholtz joined Lutjen in the semifinals where he faced Rossi, ranked No. 36 in the nation. After taking out Wildcat Tom Jomby in the quarterfinals 6-2 in the third, Scholtz went up 6-3 on Rossi. However, Rossi came back to take the second set 6-4. He broke to start the third set and held a commanding 5-1 lead. Scholtz won two straight games and had a couple break point chances in the final game before Rossi won it 6-3 to move on to the final.
Fans can follow the doubles final on the tournament's live blog.
SEC INDOOR CHAMPIONSHIPS - LEXINGTON, Ky.
Singles
Quarterfinals - Anthony Rossi (UK) def. William Kallberg (OM) 6-0, 6-4; Jonas Lutjen (OM) def. Eric Quigley (UK) 5-7, 7-5, 6-3; Nik Scholtz (OM) def. Tom Jomby (UK) 7-5, 6-7(5), 6-2. Semifinals - Sadio Doumbia (UGA) def. Lutjen (OM) 6-3, 6-4; Rossi (UK) def. Scholtz (OM) 3-6, 6-4, 6-3.
Doubles
Quarterfinals - Thiemann/Thiemann (OM) def. Musialek/Gomez (UK) 9-7. Semifinals - Thiemann/Thiemann (OM) def. Jha/Quigley (UK) 9-7
Consolation Doubles - Backstrom/Kallberg (OM) def. Adams/Cox (USC) 9-8(3); Backstrom/Kallberg (OM) def. Barnette/Eguez (USC) 8-6; Jones/Koch (USC) def. Backstrom/Kallberg (OM) 9-7.
