The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss
Vanderbilt
Men's Tennis Downs Vanderbilt 7-0
4/14/2017 | Men's Tennis
Complete Results | Photo Gallery 
OXFORD, Miss. -- Friday's match between Ole Miss and Vanderbilt was an important one for both teams as far as postseason play goes, and the Rebels made the most of it, downing the Commodores 7-0 at the Palmer/Salloum Tennis Center.
The Rebels won a close doubles point with wins on the top two courts to lead 1-0. Almost simultaneously, both duos won deciding points at 4-3 to go up a break. Zvonimir Babic and Ricardo Jorge closed out their match 6-3 and then Fabian Fallert and Grey Hamilton finished off theirs 6-4.
Momentum stayed with the Rebels as they won five firsts and then grabbed straight set wins on the top two courts. Hamilton took out Panu Virtanen 6-1, 6-3 on court six and then Filip Kraljevic defeated Alex Ross 6-4, 6-2 on court five to make it 3-0 Rebels.
Freshman Tim Sandkaulen delivered the final knockout punch with a strong second set against Billy Rowe at No. 3 singles. After winning a tight first 7-5, Sandkaulen dominated the second 6-1 to clinch the victory, his first SEC match-clinch.
The Rebels finished out the sweep with Fallert, Jorge and Gustav Hansson all winning their matches on four, two and one for the final 7-0 score. Hansson trailed 2-5 in his opening set against Vanderbilt's Daniel Valent, and came back to win it 7-5,
At the Net...
• The Rebels are now 14-8 overall, 5-6 in the SEC
• The Rebels have now won five straight against Vanderbilt
• Fabian Fallert improved to 22-6 overall, 15-3 in dual matches and 9-1 in the SEC
• Fallert has won nine in a row
• Grey Hamilton improved to 5-3 at No. 6 singles, 4-2 in the SEC
• Gustav Hansson improved to 10-7 at No. 1 singles and has won five straight
• Zvonimir Babic and Ricardo Jorge improved to 10-1 in dual matches and 8-1 in the SEC
• Fallert and Hamilton picked up their fourth ranked win of the year
Complete Results
Doubles
1. #25 Fallert/Hamilton (OM) def. #44 McPhee/Rowe (VU) 6-4
2. Babic/Jorge (OM) def. Binet/Newman (VU) 6-3
3. Sandkaulen/Kraljevic (OM) vs. Valent/Virtanen (VU) 3-4, sus.
Order of Finish: 2, 1
Singles
1. #25 Gustav Hansson (OM) def. #58 Danny Valent (VU) 7-5, 6-4
2. Ricardo Jorge (OM) def. Baker Newman (VU) 6-7(4), 6-3, 10-7
3. Tim Sandkaulen (OM) def. Billy Rowe (VU) 7-5, 6-1
4. Fabian Fallert (OM) def. Lachlan McPhee (VU) 6-4, 1-6, 10-7
5. Filip Kraljevic (OM) def. Alex Ross (VU) 6-4, 6-2
6. Grey Hamilton (OM) def. Panu Virtanen (VU) 6-1, 6-3
Order of Finish: 6, 5, 3, 4, 2, 1
Thoughts from head coach Toby Hansson...
"Overall I am very pleased with the attitude on the courts today, starting from the first point in doubles all the way through in singles. Everyone was battling. This is a good team we played. If you look at the scoreboard it looks like it was an easy match, but by no means was it an easy match. At the same time, we definitely deserved the win. If we maintain the right attitude and keep competing out there, we're a tough team. It was nice for everybody to get a win today."
On Gus coming back and everyone battling...
"Today it was Gus who came back from 2-5 in the first, the other day it was Grey. We are doing a great job of not giving anything away, making the opponent earn everything."
On doubles play...
"It's always nice to get the doubles and the early momentum. We have been playing well in doubles the entire year, and today it was nice for one and two to clinch it."
Freshman Tim Sandkaulen
"It all started last week in practice. We had really good practices, the intensity was way better than at the beginning of the season. We all came together as a team and talked about what we can do better, and that's what we did today, continue from what the Arkansas win. We were all focused and fighting hard on every court."
On clinching his first SEC win...
"I am pleased with my performance overall, and happy to get my first SEC clinch, especially for Ricky on his last home weekend."
Junior Grey Hamilton
"The doubles point was solid, happy for me and Fabi to close out, because we haven't finished our match in a while. Once everyone saw that we got five first sets, they just locked down and kept their foot on the gas pedal. It was huge for me and Filip to win our matches in straight sets to give us a 3-0 lead. Gus came back to get his first set, Ricky was able to come back and win his match and Tim was able to get his first clinch, which is awesome for him."
On Kentucky match...
"Senior day for Ricky against Kentucky will be big. We always have good matches against Kentucky, and we are coming off a hard-fought loss to them last year in Lexington. They're a good team, ranked No. 24, so it's a great opportunity to get another top 25 win."
Up next...
Ole Miss welcomes No. 24 Kentucky Easter Sunday at 1 p.m. on Senior Day. The Rebels will celebrate senior Ricardo Jorge before the match.
For more information on Ole Miss Men's Tennis, follow the Rebels on Twitter @OleMissMTennis, on Facebook at OleMissMTennis and on Instagram at OleMissMTennis, follow Coach Hansson on Twitter at @TennisToby.
Players Mentioned
