Ole Miss Men’s Tennis Defeats No. 38 LSU, 6-1

OXFORD, Miss. – No. 24 Ole Miss (4-5, 3-1 SEC) won 6-1 versus No. 38 LSU (9-5, 1-4 SEC) in the Rebels' SEC home opener on Friday.

After losing the opening doubles point, Ole Miss thwarted LSU in all six singles matches. The Rebels have now won three of four conference matches in SEC play.

"It was a great team win today," said Head Coach Toby Hansson. "Everyone was fired up and competed really well in singles. We have some things to work on in doubles, but overall I am very pleased with the performance against a dangerous LSU team."

LSU clinched the doubles point, winning two matches with one unfinished. Ole Miss' No. 1 doubles, No. 7 Finn Reynolds and Tim Sandkaulen, led No. 60 Ronald Hohmann and Rafael Wagner 5-4 at the time of the Tigers' clinch.

The Rebels rebounded in singles and won all six matches while only surrendering one total set.

John Hallquist Lithén won first for the Rebels, 6-2, 6-3 over LSU's Boris Kozlov. Lithén has had an exceptional start to his freshman season and has won six of eight matches (3-1 in SEC play).

Nikola Slavic won second for Ole Miss. Slavic defeated the Tigers' Tom Pisane in straight sets, 6-4, 6-3.

No. 62 Sandkaulen toppled LSU's Rafael Wagner 6-1, 7-6 (0). After competing in 12 back-and-forth games, Sandkaulen swept Wagner in the second set tiebreak winning the set and match. Sandkaulen has won three of his last four matches, all at No. 2 singles.

Lukas Engelhardt won his first match of the season on Friday. Leading 5-4 in the first set, he broke Benjamin Ambrosio's serve at 40-40 to take the opening set. Engelhardt would ensue to dominate the second set, 6-1, and clinch the win for the Rebels at 4-1.

Ole Miss and LSU proceeded to play out the remaining two matches. The Rebels won both as Simon Junk made a second set comeback to defeat Joao Graca in straight sets, and Reynolds beat No. 99 Ronald Hohmann in three sets after dropping the first. Reynolds defeated his third ranked opponent this season and improved to 3-2 at No. 1 singles.

Coming Up

Ole Miss hosts No. 11 Texas A&M at 10:30 a.m. Sunday. The Rebels fell to the Aggies 4-3 in a non-conference match to open the 2021 dual season (Jan. 19).

Singles Results

Finn Reynolds def. No. 99 Ronald Hohmann (LSU), 4-6, 6-4, 6-3
No. 62 Tim Sandkaulen def. Rafael Wagner (LSU), 6-1, 7-6 (0)
Nikola Slavic def. Tom Pisane (LSU), 6-4, 6-3
Simon Junk def. Joao Graca (LSU), 6-2, 7-5
John Hallquist Lithén def. Boris Kozlov (LSU), 6-2, 6-3
Lukas Engelhardt def. Benjamin Ambrosio (LSU), 6-4, 6-1

Doubles Results

Joao Graca/Joey Thomas (LSU) def. Brady Draheim/Simon Junk, 6-3
Boriz Kozlov/Nick Watson (LSU) def. Lukas Engelhardt/Nikola Slavic, 6-2
No. 7 Finn Reynolds/Tim Sandkaulen vs. No. 60 Ronald Hohmann/Rafael Wager (LSU), 5-4 (unfinished)

For more information on Ole Miss Men's Tennis, follow the Rebels on Twitter at @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

Brady Draheim

Lukas Engelhardt

Simon Junk

Finn Reynolds

Tim Sandkaulen

Nikola Slavic