Men’s Tennis Drops Opening Conference Contest Against Auburn

OXFORD, Miss. – The Ole Miss men's tennis team (5-5, 0-1 SEC) was unable to persevere through a hard-fought matchup with the No. 31 Auburn Tigers (8-4, 1-0 SEC) on Friday, as the Rebels lost their opening SEC matchup, 4-1, at the William F. Galtney Indoor Tennis Center.

The Rebels saw a new lineup to try to take down the Tigers as Noah Schlagenhauf returned from taking a break due to injury, missing eight of the team's ten matches this spring. Auburn would prevail, however, handing Ole Miss their first conference loss this season.

The Tigers put the Rebels on their heels early with a quick win over Carson Baker and John Hallquist Lithen on court three. Auburn would then take the doubles point, defeating Nikola Slavic and Lukas Engelhardt, 6-3, to secure the advantage. Isac Stromberg and Schlagenhauf's double match went unfinished.

The lone Rebel point came from Lithen who showed the poise of a leader by not letting the doubles loss affect him, taking the first set 6-2. Feeding off the crowd's energy, the Gothenburg, Sweden, native, pressed on the pedal to produce a 6-3 win in set two, marking his ninth singles win of the year.

In his first match back, Schlagenhauf was not able to find any power, falling 6-3, 6-3 on court four. Although Engelhardt dropped his first set, 6-4, the senior was able to fight back and garner a 6-2 second set victory. Ultimately, Engelhardt lost in a close tiebreaker, 7-6 (2).

Match point for the Tigers came after Stromberg dropped a battle on court three, 6-1, 6-7 (4), 6-4. Slavic and Baker were unable to complete their singles matchups.

Up Next
The Rebels will prepare for a home doubleheader and the non-conference finale on Sunday, March 3 against Tulsa (4-7, 0-0 AAC) and Eastern Illinois (1-11, 0-0 OVC). Both matches will be played at the Palmer/Salloum Tennis Center with the match against the Golden Hurricane set to begin at 11 a.m. CT and the second match to follow soon after the completion of the first.

Rebels on Social
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.

Ole Miss 1, #31 Auburn 4
Singles
1. Nikola Slavic (OM) vs. #44 Tyler Stice (AUB) 6-3, 5-7, 3-5, unfinished
2. J. Hallquist Lithen (OM) def. Raul Dobai (AUB) 6-2, 6-3
3. Alejandro Moreno (AUB) def. Isac Stromberg (OM) 6-1, 6-7 (4-7), 6-4
4. Billy Blaydes (AUB) def. Noah Schlagenhauf (OM) 6-3, 6-3
5. Nicholas Heng (AUB) def. Lukas Engelhardt (OM) 3-6, 6-2, 7-6 (7-2)
6. Carson Baker (OM) vs. Will Nolan (AUB) 5-7, 6-4, 4-2, unfinished

Doubles
1. Raul Dobai/Finn Murgett (AUB) def. Nikola Slavic/Lukas Engelhardt (OM) 6-3
2. Isac Stromberg/Noah Schlagenhauf (OM) vs. Billy Blaydes/Alejandro Moreno (AUB) 3-5, unfinished
3. Tyler Stice/Will Nolan (AUB) def. Carson Baker/J. Hallquist Lithen (OM) 6-2

Order of finish: Doubles (3,1); Singles (2,4,5,3)

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Team Stats

Players Mentioned

Carson Baker

Lukas Engelhardt

Noah Schlagenhauf

Nikola Slavic

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