Rebels Claw Past No. 20 Cowboys

STILLWATER, Okla. -- After starting the season and already battling through adversity, Ole Miss Men's Tennis triumphed Friday, taking down No. 20 Oklahoma State 4-3 at the Michael and Anne Greenwood Tennis Center.

Stalled at 3-3 with their first ranked win on the line, the Rebels looked to veteran Fabian Fallert. After exhausting through six extra points in the opening set tiebreak, Fabi coasted through in the second, clinching match point for Ole Miss in their first road win of the young season.

The Rebels headed into singles play with the upper hand, securing the doubles point on wins from the veteran pair of junior Tim Sandkaulen and senior Filip Kraljevic and Fallert and his accomplice, sophomore Cotter Wilson.

After the rookie duo of Sebastian Rios and Karlo Kranic fell 6-4 in the third position, both tandems powered through to earn 6-3 decisions. It was perhaps an omen of what was to come, as Fallert and Wilson provided the doubles point clincher on Court 2.

Sandkaulen carried the momentum at first singles, dropping just two games after sweeping his first set 6-0 and taking the second 6-2, handing the Rebs a 2-0 cushion.

The Cowboys were quick to cut the lead in half, after OSU's Luke Hammond downed freshman Simon Junk in identical 6-4 sets, and then evened the contest after picking up second singles as Kraljevic fell after an opening set tiebreak and was unable to regroup.

Kranic returned the Rebels to the lead after triumphing in three sets. After stumbling in the opener, the rookie powered back to surrender just three games across 12. The win is his first collegiate singles dual match victory.

Oklahoma State evened things once more, pulling through a tiebreaking first set and 6-2 second over Wilson at sixth singles before all eyes turned to his partner on Court 3.

AT THE NET WITH.... HEAD COACH TOBY HANSSON
"It was a great team effort today. We have faced a lot of different adverse situations in the early goings of the season, and the guys continue to respond the right way regardless of the circumstances. I could not be more proud of how well we are handling things. We continue to compete extremely hard, and it's nice to see us get rewarded with a quality win against a Top-20 team on the road. Right out of the gates we looked sharp today. The energy was there in doubles and carried over into singles. Overall, this was a great team win. I couldn't be more proud of our efforts.

RESULTS
1. Tim Sandkaulen/Filip Kraljevic (OM) def. Artur Dubinski/Maxim Tybar (OSU) 6-3
2. Cotter Wilson/Fabian Fallert (OM) def. Emile Hudd/Mathieu Scaglia (OSU) 6-3
3. Luke Hammond/Matej Vocel (OSU) def. Sebastian Rios/Karlo Kranic (OM) 6-4

1. Tim Sandkaulen (OM) def. Matej Vocel (OSU) 6-0, 6-2
2. Artur Dubinski (OSU) def. Filip Kraljevic (OM) 7-6 (7-4), 6-3
3. Fabian Fallert (OM) def. Mathieu Scaglia (OSU) 7-6 (13-11), 6-2
4. Karlo Kranic (OM) def. Maxim Tybar (OSU) 4-6, 6-1, 6-2
5. Luke Hammond (OSU) def. Simon Junk (OM) 6-4, 6-4
6. Brady Draheim (OSU) def. Cotter Wilson (OM) 7-6 (7-5), 6-2

UP NEXT
Ole Miss returns to Oxford, welcoming Alcorn State for a pair of matches Saturday, Feb. 9. First serve is slated for noon.
-------------------------------

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.

RebelsCalendar

Next Event

Team Stats

Players Mentioned

Fabian Fallert

Simon Junk

Filip Kraljevic

Sebastian Rios

Tim Sandkaulen

Cotter Wilson