#8 Vols Stay Hot, Take Down #25 Ole Miss, 6-1

Thursday, April 13

Knoxville, TN

4 PM

University of Tennessee

Ole Miss

April 13, 2023 | Men's Tennis

Box Score Box Score Photo Gallery

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – The eighth-ranked Tennessee men's tennis team increased its winning streak to seven matches Thursday, defeating Ole Miss, 6-1, at Barksdale Stadium.

For the third time in four matches, Tennessee's 27th-ranked Emile Hudd clinched the match, with his 6-3, 6-2, triumph over John Hallquist Lithen atop the singles lineup. For Hudd, the win improved his career record at the No. 1 singles position to 2-0.

Tennessee (19-6, 9-2 SEC) increased its winning streak over Ole Miss to nine matches with the win. The Vols earned the doubles point Thursday for the 22nd time this season, with wins on courts two and one.

The 42nd-ranked pairing of Hudd and Shunsuke Mitsui sparked the day's winning with a 6-2 victory on court two over Isac Stromberg and Lukas Engelhardt. The win moved Hudd to 97 career doubles victories.

The doubles clinch came from the nation's third-ranked duo of Pat Harper and Johannus Monday, as they defeated Lithen and Simon Junk, 6-2, at the No. 1 spot.

"Winning the doubles point gets us off to a good start," Tennessee head coach Chris Woodruff said. "People need to stay ready. With Johannus out today, I thought Boris did a nice job of stepping in there. He's always going to try his best. Tomas was terrific down there on the end. This time of year is when you want to try and get everything flowing and moving in the right direction. So far, so good."

In singles play, Tennessee took five first sets over Ole Miss (16-7, 6-5 SEC). The first court to finish was court two, as Tennessee's Blaise Bicknell decisively took down the nation's 65th-ranked Nikola Slavic, 6-3, 6-1 at the No. 2 lineup position. The win marked his second at the No. 2 spot this year and fourth win in his last six singles matches.

Tomas Rodriguez's straight-set win on court six gave the Vols a 3-0 lead. He raced past Ole Miss' Stromberg, 6-1, 6-2, for his sixth dual singles win of the year. Following Hudd's clinch, Tennessee's Angel Diaz tallied another point to the Vols' total, winning each point of the second-set tiebreaker for a 6-1, 7-6(0) victory on court four over the Rebels' Engelhardt.

Tennessee built a 6-0 lead thanks to #118 Mitsui's straight-set, 6-2, 7-6(6) victory over Junk at the No. 3 singles slot. Ole Miss took the match on court five, narrowly winning a 10-point third-set tiebreaker.

UP NEXT
Tennessee travels west for its regular-season finale at Arkansas Sunday. First serve is scheduled for 2 p.m. ET.

RESULTS: Tennessee 6, Ole Miss 1
Doubles

1. #3 Johannus Monday/Pat Harper (UT) def. J. Hallquist Lithen/Simon Junk (OM) 6-2
2. #42 Emile Hudd/Shunsuke Mitsui (UT) def. Isac Stromberg/Lukas Engelhardt (OM) 6-2
3. Martim Prata/Angel Diaz (UT) vs. Nikola Slavic/Noah Schlagenhauf (OM) 4-3, unfinished

Order of Finish: (2,1)

Singles

1. #27 Emile Hudd (UT) def. J. Hallquist Lithen (OM) 6-3, 6-2
2. Blaise Bicknell (UT) def. #65 Nikola Slavic (OM) 6-3, 6-1
3. #118 Shunsuke Mitsui (UT) def. Simon Junk (OM) 6-2, 7-6 (8-6)
4. Angel Diaz (UT) def. Lukas Engelhardt (OM) 6-1, 7-6 (7-0)
5. Noah Schlagenhauf (OM) def. Boris Kozlov (UT) 6-2, 3-6, 1-0 (10-8)
6. Tomas Rodriguez (UT) def. Isac Stromberg (OM) 6-1, 6-2

Order of Finish: (2,6,1,4,3,5)