The University of Mississippi Athletics
No. 19 Rebels Fall to No. 6 Duke
2/15/2015 | Men's Tennis
CHICAGO - For the fifth time in seven matches, the No. 19 Ole Miss men's tennis team lost the doubles point, but unlike Saturday, the Rebels were unable to overcome the deficit against No. 6 Duke in a 4-0 loss to conclude play at the ITA National Team Indoor Sunday at the Midtown Athletic Club.
After Duke won the No. 3 doubles match 6-3, Nik Scholtz and Zvonimir Babic defeated Jason Tahir and Josh Levine 6-3 at No. 2. At the time Scholtz and Babic won, William Kallberg and Gustav Hansson were locked in a dead heat 4-4, but Duke's 34th-ranked tandem of Nicolas Alvarez and Raphael Hemmeler won the final two games for the win to clinch the point.
The Blue Devils maintained momentum winning five first sets. Saturday's hero, Vinod Gowda, lost to TJ Pura 6-1, 6-1 at No. 6 singles as Duke went ahead 2-0. Hemmeler added to the lead when he finished off Hansson 6-3, 6-2 at No. 3 singles, and then 38th-ranked Tahir defeated 78th-ranked Stefan Lindmark 6-4, 6-3 at No. 2 to clinch the match for Duke.
When play stopped, Kallberg was up 2-1 in the third set at No. 4 singles, Babic was a tiebreaker away from winning at No. 5 and Scholtz was up 4-3 in the second set.
"We had some looks in doubles, but couldn't get the break we needed," head coach Toby Hansson said. "Overall I feel like we played our best doubles today. In singles we were right there as well and we were really in control in a few matches, but unfortunately we could not find a way to turn the match around. Overall I am really pleased with the weekend and we are excited about moving forward to the outdoor season and preparing for the SEC matches."
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