University of Tennessee Athletics
Ole Miss knocks out UT in SEC semis
April 19, 2008 | Men's Tennis
The eighth-ranked Tennessee men???s tennis team lost the doubles point for only the fifth time this season and could not recover as sixth-ranked Ole Miss knocked UT out of the SEC Tournament with a 4-2 victory in Fayetteville, Ark. Tennessee (21-3) will not play again until the NCAA tournament and will find out its first round opponent on Tuesday, April 29 when the 2008 field in announced.
???It???s the SEC and you have to be ready to play,??? head coach Sam Winterbotham said. ???Ole Miss came out and played a great match at No.1 doubles and hit their stride early and we weren???t able to recover but we still had a chance to get the point on courts 2 and 3. We were up a break on both courts and just couldn???t get it done.
???It???s hard to get four points in singles against great teams like Ole Miss. We were competing. We just couldn???t come back from losing the doubles point today. It???s time to get back to campus and finish the year strong academically and turn our attention to the NCAA tournament.???
The Rebels (20-4) won the doubles point to take an early 1-0 lead over Tennessee. UM???s top doubles duo of Jonas Berg and Erling Tveit, ranked fifth, defeated Kaden Hensel and J.P. Smith at the No. 1 position, 8-1. The loss was only Hensel and Smith???s fourth of the season at the No. 1 spot. The Rebels clinched the point when Robbye Poole and Matthias Wellermann defeated Davey Sandgren and Jeremy Tweedt, 9-7 at the No. 2 position.
The Vols are now 2-3 this season when they lose the doubles point. UT is 19-0 when they capture the doubles point. Ole Miss won the doubles point in both matches with the Vols this season.
Boris Conkic tied the match with a straight-set victory over 41st-ranked Poole, 6-1, 6-1. The UT freshman from Serbia is 15-4 this season at the No. 3 position in the lineup and now has six victories over ranked opponents. Conkic also has a team-high 27 singles victories.
The Rebels regained the lead when Berg knocked off Sandgren at the No. 4 position, 6-1, 6-1.
Ole Miss extended the lead to 3-1 with Jakob Klaeson???s 6-4, 6-1 win over Tweedt at the No. 6 position.
Smith gave the Vols hope with a three-set come-from-behind victory at the No. 2 position to make the score 3-2 in favor of Ole Miss. The UT freshman dropped the first set to 20th-ranked Wellermann, but came back to dominate the second set and then broke away from a 2-2 tie in the final set to win going away, 3-6, 6-1, 6-3.
Kalle Norberg clinched the victory for Ole Miss with a straight-set win over Matteo Fago at the No. 5 position. Norberg continues to be a thorn in UT???s side, as the Rebel sophomore has clinched the last three Ole Miss??? victories over Tennessee.
The loss snapped Fago???s 14-match win streak in singles.
The Vols now wait to find out their destination in the NCAA tournament. The selection show is Tuesday, April 29 from 2-2:30 p.m., on ESPNews. Regional play in the NCAA tournament runs from May 9-11.
| #2 Ole Miss 4, #3 Tennessee 2?? | |
| Singles?? | |
| 1. #30 Erling Tveit (OM) vs. #41 Kaden Hensel (UT) | 6-3, 5-7 (susp.) |
| 2. #33 J.P. Smith (UT) def. #20 Matthias Wellermann (OM) | 3-6, 6-1, 6-3 |
| 3. #89 Boris Conkic (UT) def. #49 Robbye Poole (OM) | 6-1, 6-1 |
| 4. Jonas Berg (OM) def. Davey Sandgren (UT) | 6-1, 6-1 |
| 5. Kalle Norberg (OM) def. Matteo Fago (UT) | 7-6(4), 6-3 |
| 6. Jakob Klaeson (OM) def. Jeremy Tweedt (UT) | 6-4, 6-1 |
| Doubles?? | |
| 1. #5 Erling Tveit/Jonas Berg (OM) def. #12 Kaden Hensel/J.P. Smith (UT) | 8-1 |
| 2. Matthias Wellermann/Robbye Poole (OM) def. Davey Sandgren/Jeremy Tweedt (UT) | 9-7 |
| 3. Tucker Vorster/Jakob Klaeson (OM) vs. Matteo Fago/Boris Conkic (UT) | 7-6 (susp.) |
| Order of Finish: Doubles (1, 2); Singles (3, 4, 6, 2, 5*) | |
| * - clinching match | |
