The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss
UCLA - ITA National Team Indoor
No. 19 Rebels Rally to Top No. 10 UCLA
2/14/2015 | Men's Tennis
CHICAGO - Down 3-1, the No. 19 Ole Miss men's tennis team did it again, rallying from the brink of defeat to top No. 10 UCLA 4-3 in consolation play at the ITA National Team Indoor, here Saturday at the Midtown Athletic Club.
The Rebels (5-1) lost the doubles point and at No. 1 and 3 singles, but came up with three huge three-setters at four, five and six to seal their third come-from-behind win of the season.
After Zvonimir Babic won a decisive third set tiebreaker at No. 5 singles to square the match at 3, all eyes turned to court six where sophomore Vinod Gowda trailed the Bruins' Joseph Di Giulio 3-1 in the third to decide the match. Gowda then won five straight games to clinch the match and the Rebel victory.
"Tremendous team effort, incredible college match," head coach Toby Hansson said. "We fought through some tough situations and the guys always believed they could win their match. Great to see William (Kallberg), Zvonimir and Vinod come through with three huge wins when the match was on the line. It's a great feeling for the team to come up with a huge win."
Ole Miss will face No. 6 Duke Sunday in the final round of consolation at 9 a.m.
UCLA won a tight doubles point that could have gone either way. Nik Scholtz and Babic won their match 6-4 at No. 2 doubles, while UCLA's No. 6 ranked team of Mackenzie McDonald and Martin Redlicki beat 55th-ranked William Kallberg and Gustav Hansson 6-4 at No. 1. At No. 3, Stefan Lindmark and Grey Hamilton led 4-2 before the UCLA tandem of Dennis Mkrtchian and Austin Rapp came back to win it 7-6(4) to clinch the point.
Lindmark, who is ranked No. 78, evened the match, knocking off 44th-ranked Mkrtchian 6-4, 6-4 at No. 2 singles. The Bruins regained the lead though, as Redlicki defeated Gustav Hansson in a tight match, 7-6(6), 6-4 at No. 3 singles. Hansson trailed 0-6 in the tiebreaker and won six straight points to tie it before Redlicki got the final two points for the first set.
Ole Miss fell behind 3-1 as No. 2 ranked McDonald defeated reigning SEC Player of the Year, Scholtz, 7-5, 6-3, at the top spot.
One day after losing a tough third set tiebreaker 10-8, Kallberg came through in the clutch, breaking UCLA's Karue Sell at 6-5 in the third to win the match 6-3, 3-6, 7-5. Kallberg was down 3-5 in the final set and then held for 4-5. With Sell serving for it, he double faulted on the no-ad point to give Kallberg the break. At 5-5 and serving, Kallberg faced another no-ad point and ripped a backhand up the line for a winner and a 6-5 lead. Kallberg broke Sell in the ensuing game for the win to pull the Rebels within one.
In a battle between a pair of freshmen, Babic staved off set point and won a huge first set tiebreaker 7-6(8) against UCLA's 90th-ranked Rapp. Rapp raced out to a big lead in the second and held for 6-1 to force the third set. Needing to win it for the Rebels to stay alive, Babic got out to a 4-2 lead, but Rapp tied it up at 4-4. The two held serve the rest of the way to force a tiebreaker, which Babic dominated 7-1 for the win to set up Gowda's heroics.
Gowda won the first 6-2 and then had two match points in the second set, before losing it in a tiebreaker, 6-7(5). Down 3-1 in the final set, he played a great game to get back to 3-2 according to assistant coach Taylor Vaughn, who was on his court. From there it was all Gowda, who closed strong to win it 6-3.
"We are so proud of Vinod he played the better tennis for the match and when it got into a tight third set, he stayed the course and found a way to get the win," Vaughn said. "All the little things that Vinod has been doing on his own really paid off for him and for the team."
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Players Mentioned
