Men’s Tennis Remains Perfect in Sunday Sweeps

OXFORD, Miss. – Ole Miss Men's Tennis improves to 4-0 on the season after picking up wins over Belmont and Jackson State Sunday, each by scores of 7-0 in the Galtney Indoor Tennis Center.

MATCH ONE
After trailing as late as 3-2 in the set, the sophomore duo of Jan Soren Hain and Simon Junk rallied, tying the score at three games apiece and then setting up a comeback, taking the final two games to take the set 6-4 and hand Ole Miss the doubles point after the veteran pairing of senior Tim Sandkaulen and junior Finn Reynolds made quick work on Court 1 at 6-1.

The match was the 2020 debut for Sandkaulen, who enters the spring ranked No. 35 in the country by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association, and earned a 6-3, 6-4 win on Court 1.

Freshman Nikola Slavic earned the first singles win of the afternoon for the Rebels with identical 6-2, 6-2 results on Court 4. Hain and Junk each finished shortly after, clinching the win Ole Miss.

As the two teams decided to play out the match, battles ensued on Courts 3 and 5. On 5, Reynolds trailed for most of the opening set before registering back-to-back games to tie and take the lead at 6-5. After the Bruins' Marko Ilic tied the contest once more, the two began in a back-and-forth affair until Reynolds emerged victorious in the tiebreaker 7-5. He went on to take the second set 6-4 and set the Rebels up for the sweep, up 6-0.

After an easy bout in the opening set, winning 6-1, freshman Lukas Engelhardt had to grind through a tiebreaker of his own in the second, but was able to perfect the shutout with the Rebels winning 7-0.

MATCH TWO
Ole Miss quickly got on the board in the second contest, with the duos of rookie tandem Engelhardt and Slavic and Sandkaulen paired with Junk to sweep the set on Court 2 and register the doubles point for the Rebs.

Junk continued to dominate, earning a straight sets victory on Court 4 for his seventh total win of the season- Junk also won twice in singles and once in doubles Wednesday against North Alabama, and was perfect Sunday.

Slavic followed suit, again making quick work with identical 6-1, 6-1 results on Court 3.

After junior Cotter Wilson clinched the match for the Rebs at 6-3, 6-1, the teams decided to play out, bringing a thrilling comeback and victory on Court 6 from sophomore Sebastian Rios.

Rios trailed 4-5 in the opener, and rallied to take three straight games and the advantage with a 7-5 first set. In a déjà vu feeling, Rios again trailed 4-5 in the second, and battled his way back to prevail triumphantly in a 7-4 tiebreak and complete the Rebs' perfect day intact.

AT THE NET WITH… HEAD COACH TOBY HANSSON
Thoughts on today's matches
"I think everyone did very well today. They did a good job of competing and supporting each other all day. We had a few matches that were competitive, and I think we responded the right way. I feel like we got better because of today's matches. The fans were into it. I think they enjoyed seeing us compete."

Thoughts on freshmen Lukas Engelhardt and Nikola Slavic's continual impressive performances as freshmen…
"Absolutely they continue to impress me. They got challenged in doubles and came out with high energy in singles in the first match, and then continued to do that in the second match. I've been very impressed with their effort, their attitude, their focus…"

On these matches and the prep heading into ITA Kickoff
"I think the matches today definitely helped prepare us for next weekend, especially for the freshmen, getting used to playing for a team. It's just good for everybody to get those wins and gain some confidence. It's good to figure out what we are doing well and figure out things we need to improve on."

RESULTS
MATCH ONE; OLE MISS 7, BELMONT 0
T. Sandkaulen def. F. Rauch, 6-3, 6-4
J.S. Hain def. Hendrik Inno, 6-4, 6-2
F. Reynolds def. M. Ilic, 7-6(5), 6-4
N. Slavic def. A. Toledo, 6-2, 6-2
L. Engelhardt def. T. Miyamota, 6-1, 7-6(3)
S. Junk def. V. Sterkens, 6-2, 6-2

T. Sandkaulen/F. Reynolds def. H. Inno/M. Ilic, 6-1
L. Engelhardt/N. Slavic vs. T. Miyamota/F. Rauch, 5-4 unfinished
S. Junk/J.S. Hain def. G. Kelly/V. Sterkens, 6-4

MATCH TWO; OLE MISS 7, JACKSON STATE 0
T. Sandkaulen def. J. Soria, 6-2, 7-5
J.S. Hain def. R. Gamo, 6-4, 6-2
N. Slavic def. H. Ikeda, 6-1, 6-1
S. Junk def. A. Agosto, 6-0, 6-0
C. Wilson def. A. Leguizamom, 6-3, 6-1
S. Rios def. T. Torres, 7-5, 7-6 (4)

L. Engelhardt/N. Slavic def. A. Leguizamom/R. Gamo, 6-2
T. Sandkaulen/S. Junk def. A. Agosto/J. Soria, 6-0
C. Wilson/S. Rios vs. H. Ikeda/T.Torres, 5-3 unfinished

UP NEXT
Ole Miss heads to the ITA Kickoff in Champaign, Illinois, where they will face the No. 13 Illini and will follow that up either with No. 17 Michigan or Texas Tech Saturday.

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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.

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Team Stats

Players Mentioned

Lukas Engelhardt

Jan Soren Hain

Simon Junk

Finn Reynolds

Tim Sandkaulen

Nikola Slavic

Cotter Wilson