Men’s Tennis Downs NC State 4-2, Advances to ITA National Indoors

OXFORD, Miss. – No. 18 Ole Miss men's tennis (5-0, 0-0 SEC) earned a hard-fought 4-2 victory versus NC State (3-1, 0-0 ACC) to win the Oxford Region of the 2022 ITA Kickoff on Sunday. The Rebels advance to the ITA National Indoor Championships starting Feb. 18 in Seattle.

Ole Miss maintained its undefeated start to the 2022 campaign by fending-off the No. 3 seed in the Oxford Region, the NC State Wolfpack. Despite losing the doubles point and dropping four of six first sets in singles, the Rebels came back to defeat the Wolfpack 4-2. Ole Miss advances to the ITA National Indoor Championships for the first time since 2016. The Rebels start the season 5-0 for the second time in the last three years.

The Rebels got off to a slow start, falling to the Wolfpack in doubles 2-0. NC State won first on Court No. 3, 6-2, before taking Court No. 2, 6-4. The Wolfpack earned a 1-0 match lead.

NC State kept the momentum to begin singles, winning the first set at Nos. 1, 2, 4 and 5 singles. The Wolfpack would go on to only win matches on one of the courts as the Rebels staked multiple three-set victories.

Simon Junk leveled the score, 1-1, by defeating NC State's Braden Shick in three sets, 4-6, 6-3, 6-1. Junk's three-set match concluded prior to the finalization of any two-set matches.

The Wolfpack retook the lead, 2-1, as No. 2 singles was the next match to conclude. Martins Rocens defeated No. 44 Finn Reynolds 7-5, 3-6, 6-3.

The Rebels caught fire in front of an electric home crowd to win the next three matches. After dropping the first set 6-2, Lukas Engelhardt defeated the Wolfpack's Damien Salvestre 6-2, 7-5, in the second and third sets to tie the match 2-2. John Hallquist Lithén defeated Luca Staeheli in back-to-back tiebreaks to give the Rebels their first lead of the afternoon, 3-2. No. 28 Nikola Slavic earned the clinching victory of the day, coming back to defeat No. 36 Robin Catry 4-6, 7-6 (4), 6-1. Ole Miss defeated NC State in a high-intensity match lasting 3:15.

Up Next: The Rebels will make a quick turnaround to compete versus Alcorn State on Tuesday in a doubleheader. The first match is set to begin at noon CT, with the second match starting at an estimated time of 3 p.m. CT. The Braves are 0-3 thus far this season.

Ole Miss 4, NC State 2

Doubles
1. Finn Reynolds/Lukas Engelhardt vs. Collin Shick/Yannai Barkai (NCST), 5-5 (unfinished)
2. Martins Rocens/Fons Van Sambeek (NCST) def. Nikola Slavic/Simon Junk, 6-4
3. Robin Catry/Luca Staeheli (NCST) def. John Hallquist Lithén/Jakob Cadonau, 6-2

Singles
1. No. 28 Nikola Slavic def. No. 36 Robin Catry (NCST), 4-6, 7-6 (4), 6-1
2. Martins Rocens (NCST) def. No. 44 Finn Reynolds, 7-5, 3-6, 6-3
3. John Hallquist Lithén def. Luca Staheli (NCST), 7-6 (8), 7-6 5)
4. Lukas Engelhardt def. Damien Salvestre (NCST), 2-6, 6-2, 7-5
5. Simon Junk def. Braden Shick (NCST), 4-6, 6-3, 6-1
6. Fons Van Sambeek (NCST) vs. Jan Soren Hain, 6-7 (5), 7-6 (5), 1-0

No. 22 Oklahoma defeated No. 24 Illinois in Sunday's consolation match, 4-2.

For full tournament rosters and results from the Oxford Regional go to –

https://olemisssports.com/sports/2022/1/25/live-video-scoring.aspx

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.

RebelsCalendar

Next Event

Team Stats

Players Mentioned

Jakob Cadonau

Lukas Engelhardt

Jan Soren Hain

Simon Junk

Finn Reynolds

Nikola Slavic