Men’s Tennis Crowned Blue Gray National Tennis Classic Champions

MONTGOMERY, Ala. -- Ole Miss Men's Tennis delivered the drama Saturday, winning both the semifinal and championship of the Blue Gray National Tennis Classic, downing both No. 28 Princeton and No. 48 Alabama 4-3 by way of thrilling three-set clinchers.

The Rebels improve to 9-1 on the season, while Princeton slips to 9-4 and Alabama falls to 9-3, and take home the tournament crown for the first time since 1997. Ole Miss reached the finals last season, upsetting Alabama in the process. The Rebels have now beaten the Crimson Tide in five of their last six meetings.

In the second round, sophomore Simon Junk extended his win streak to nine consecutive matches while delivering the clinch point for Ole Miss and sending them to the Blue Gray finals for the second straight season.

In the finale, it was freshman Nikola Slavic who played the hero. Slavic won his fifth straight match and the first clinch of his collegiate career.

MATCH ONE; OLE MISS VS. PRINCETON
After winning the doubles point Friday evening, the Rebels entered Saturday's second round with the advantage. The match became a contest of cat-and-mouse, resulting in Junk's second clinch in his last five matches.

The sophomore split his first two sets, winning the opener 6-1 before falling 3-6 in the second. After leading 3-1 in the third set, Princeton's Will Peters picked up back-to-back games to tie things 3-3. Junk rallied, picking up the final three and delivering the clinch, pushing Ole Miss into the Championship.

Ole Miss was carrying momentum into singles, having won the point via a 9-7 tiebreak from the veteran duo of senior Tim Sandkaulen and junior Finn Reynolds on Court 1.

The lead was short lived, as the Tigers quickly picked up two points via Courts 1 and 2 to take the match lead. Princeton's advantage didn't last long, as Slavic evened things once again, making quick work with a 6-1, 6-3 result.

After a win on Court 6 put the Tigers back on top at 3-2, Reynolds responded to put Junk into the pressure cooker, where he responded with his ninth-straight victory to keep his perfect singles record intact.

MATCH TWO; OLE MISS VS. ALABAMA; CHAMPIONSHIP
Falling in a first-set tiebreak 8-6, Slavic found momentum, winning a second-set tiebreak in commanding 7-1 fashion to force the ultimate deciding set.

Slavic picked up the first five points of the tiebreak, and carried that confidence into the finale, rallying back from being down at the 1-2, 2-3, and 3-4 marks. After equalizing things at 4-4, the rookie registered back-to-back games to deliver the Rebs sweet redemption from a year ago.

As win the matinee contest, Ole Miss entered singles with the advantage after winning doubles by way of Sandkaulen and Reynolds and Slavic and junior Cotter Wilson.

The Tide got on the board after Junk's singles streak was snapped on Court 5, but the Rebels quickly regained the leave courtesy of Reynolds win on Court 3, his second ranked win of the year after blanking Bama's Riccardo Roberto (No. 125) in the second set.

A loss on Court 1 brought the score to a stalemate once more, and much like their morning match, the Rebels participated in a back-and-forth affair as freshman Lukas Engelhardt put Ole Miss back in control, up 3-2 after a 6-2, 6-3 win on Court 6.

Alabama tied things after sophomore Jan Soren Hain dropped a hard-fought second-set, extra-point break, putting all eyes on Slavic.

RESULTS
MATCH ONE; NO. 20 OLE MISS 4, NO. 28 PRINCETON 3
K. Poling (PRI) def. No. 55 T. Sandkaulen, 6-2, 6-2
R. Seggerman (PRI) def. J.S. Hain, 6-2, 6-2
F. Reynolds def. J. Barki (PRI), 6-2, 6-4
N. Slavic def. D. Rodriguez (PRI), 6-1, 6-3
S. Junk def. W. Peters (PRI), 6-2, 3-6, 6-3
D. Roberts (PRI) def. C. Wilson, 6-4, 6-3

No. 40 T. Sandkaulen/F. Reynolds def. No. 6 R. Seggerman/P. Holden (PRI), 7-6 (7)
J.S. Hain/S. Junk def. J. Barki/D. Rodriguez (PRI), 6-4
K. Poling/B. Duo (PRI) def. N. Slavic/C. Wilson, 7-5

MATCH TWO; NO. 20 OLE MISS 4, NO. 48 ALABAMA 3
No. 80 E. Ortiz (BAMA) def. No. 55 T. Sandkaulen, 6-2, 6-4
Z. Zhou (BAMA) def. J.S. Hain, 6-2, 7-6 (6)
F. Reynolds def. No. 125 R. Roberto (BAMA), 6-4, 6-0
N. Slavic def. A. Nesterov (BAMA), 6-7 (6), 7-6 (1), 6-4
P. Kaukovalta (BAMA) def. S. Junk, 6-3, 6-3
L. Engelhardt def. J. Gschwendtner (BAMA), 6-2, 6-3

No. 40 T. Sandkaulen/F. Reynolds def. P. Kaukovalta/A. Nesterov (BAMA), 6-2
J.S. Hain/S. Junk vs. Ortiz/Garza (BAMA), 4-0, unfinished
N. Slavic/C. Wilson def. S. Fischer/A. Shugar (BAMA), 6-2

UP NEXT
Ole Miss will head to Fort Worth, Texas to face No. 12 TCU in one last tuneup before the start of SEC play, when they head to Fayetteville to face Arkansas Sunday, March 1.

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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