The No. 10 Ole Miss Tennis teams both went 1-1 in the SEC Tournament on April 15 and 16. The men defeated No. 15 Tennessee 4-0 in round one and lost to No. 7 South Carolina 4-1. The women beat No. 15 Kentucky 4-0 before narrowly losing to No. 7 Vanderbilt 4-3.
Men
The Rebels won the doubles point to gain an early lead against the Volunteers. Stefano D’Agostino/Pietro Pampanin and Benjamin Martin/Matthieu Chambonniere won their matches to secure the doubles victory.
Noah Schlagenhauf defeated his opponent 6-1, 6-4 to clinch the first singles point for Ole Miss. Loan Lestir then won his match 6-3, 6-4. D’Agostino officially won the match for the Rebels with his 6-4, 6-4 victory.
Their victory over Tennessee placed them against South Carolina on Thursday, April 16. The Rebels lost to the Gamecocks 4-1. Vlado Jankanj was the lone Rebel winner in the game. He defeated Max Stenzer 6-4, 6-4.
Women’s
Emily Welker/Andrea Nova and Riley Crowder/Alice Souliè each won their doubles match to lock in the doubles point and put them ahead 1-0 going into singles matches against Kentucky.
Welker won her singles matchup first. She defeated her opponent 6-1, 6-1. Crowder won her match 6-4, 6-4 to extend the Lady Rebel lead. Nova secured the Lady Rebel victory with her 6-3, 6-3 win.
After defeating the Wildcats, the Lady Rebels were set to face the Commodores. Ole Miss held it close, but lost 4-3.
One of the three doubles matches were won by Ole Miss, which gave Vanderbilt the go-ahead point headed into singles.
Welker, Crowder and Ichino Horikawa each won singles matches. Welker defeated her opponent, Celia-Belle Mohr, 3-6, 6-0, 6-0. Crowder won her match in a tiebreaker 6-3, 7-6 (5). Horikawa’s win was 7-5, 7-5.
What’s next?
Both teams will await the announcement of the selected teams for the NCAA Tournament on April 27. The men’s team, currently ranked No. 25, will have a strong campaign headed into the selection process.
