The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss
Oklahoma - ITA National Team Indoor
No. 19 Rebels Take No. 2 Oklahoma to the Wire
2/13/2015 | Men's Tennis
CHICAGO - The No. 19 Ole Miss men's tennis team has proven twice already this season that you can't count them out when you have them down. The Rebels lost the doubles point, but battled No. 2 Oklahoma down to the wire, before dropping a tight 4-1 decision in the first round of the ITA National Team Indoor here Friday at the Midtown Athletic Club.
With sophomore Vinod Gowda having split sets at No. 6 singles, and junior Stefan Lindmark on serve in the third at No. 2, Oklahoma's Spencer Papa held off senior William Kallberg 10-8 in the third set tiebreaker at No. 4 singles to clinch the Sooner victory.
The Rebels will face No. 10 UCLA in consolation play Saturday at 9 a.m., while Oklahoma advances to face North Carolina in the quarterfinals.
"We are really proud of the guys," head coach Toby Hansson said. "Sure it's disappointing to come so close and lose, but everybody on the team competed as hard as they could and played great tennis all the way until the end. We matched them blow for blow. It was a real battle, we just came up a little short today. We showed that we can compete with the best in the country."
Oklahoma gained the early lead by winning 6-2 at No. 2 doubles and 6-4 at No. 1 doubles. The two teams split the first sets, with each winning three.
Sooner Dane Webb, ranked No. 31 in the nation, defeated Rebel freshman Gustav Hansson 6-2, 6-4 at No. 3 singles, and then 63rd-ranked Alex Ghilea beat the Rebels' other freshman, Zvonimir Babic, 7-5, 6-3 at No. 5 singles to give Oklahoma a 3-0 lead.
Senior Nik Scholtz, who returned to the rankings this week at No. 59, got the Rebels on the board by winning a huge tiebreaker against 26th-ranked Andrew Harris 7-6(5) and then taking the second set 6-2. With the win, he improved to 4-0 at No. 1 singles and earned his third ranked win of the season.
At that point the Rebels were battling, with Gowda heading to a third in his match at No. 6, Lindmark trying to close out a win at No. 2 and Kallberg locked in a tight third set at No. 4.
Kallberg had a match point in the tiebreaker at 7-6, that's how close the Rebels were to extending the match for Lindmark and Gowda to possibly come through.
"We were right there in the doubles," Hansson said. "We still fought back and gave ourselves a chance to win a close match. We are looking forward to another great match against UCLA, another opportunity to play a really good team."
For more information on Ole Miss Men's Tennis, follow the Rebels on Twitter at @OleMissMTennis, on Facebook at OleMissMTennis and on Instagram at OleMissMTennis.
Players Mentioned
