Oxford, Miss. ? The 28th-ranked South Alabama men’s tennis team put up a valiant effort in the second round of the 2007 NCAA Tournament, falling to seventh-ranked Ole Miss 4-1 on Saturday at the Palmer/Salloum Tennis Center. With the loss, the Jags complete the season with a 22-5 record, while Ole Miss improves to 24-4.
“Ole Miss is a quality team,” Jaguar head coach Jaco Keyser said. “I thought we played some good singles. They came out and really bullied us around in doubles, but we hung in there and played good in singles.”
The Rebels jumped out to the early 1-0 lead, winning two of the three doubles matches in convincing fashion. At the top spot, No. 24 Erling Tveit and Eric Claesson posted an 8-1 win over Jaguar duo of sophomore Marek Sramek and junior Robert Hodel. Ole Miss clinched the point with a win at No. 3 as Robbye Poole and Jakob Klaeson won an 8-3 decision over sophomore Craig Dunne and senior Dias Doskarayev.
The bright spot for the Jaguars was at No. 2 as juniors Jack Baker and R.J. Nagel were tied 4-4 with their opponent (Wellermann/Berg) when the point was decided.
USA tied the match at one as No. 51 Sramek posted a straight-set win over No. 33 Poole, 6-3, 6-2, getting the Jags right back in it. Moments later, No. 13 Tveit posted a 6-2, 6-4 win over No. 84 Doskarayev to put the Rebels back up 2-1. Klaeson won at No. 6 over Dunne putting Ole Miss up 3-1.
USA only won two of six first sets, which gave the Rebels the opportunity to put the match away. The Rebels clinched the match with a straight-set win at No. 5 as Kalle Norberg, who was not in the original lineup replaced Matthias Wellermann, won 6-3, 6-2 over Nagel.
“We felt like we had to play good at the bottom of the lineup,” Keyser said. “Ole Miss has been playing well there all year and again today showed why they are a good team from top to bottom.”
Baker won the first set over No. 70 Claesson, 6-3 at No. 2, but lost the second, 6-2 and was ahead 2-0 in the third when the match was called.
“We like to think we put out six good singles points,” Keyser said. “We have been playing well the whole year at two and three, especially. We won at three and were ahead at two. It is tough playing against Ole Miss because they put so much pressure on you at the bottom.”
The Jaguars complete one of the best seasons in school history with their 11th appearance in the NCAA Tournament. USA began the season 10-0 this year, won its 17th Sun Belt Conference Championship and had three players ranked to end the season. The Jags return all but one player for next year’s team.
“Except for our number one player, we have the whole team coming back,” Keyser added.” “This experience is going to help them a lot. For them to have completed well against a team like Ole Miss who is in the top five year in and year out, it shows that we are not that far away and it will be a great motivator.”
2007 NCAA Championships
First and Second Rounds
#7 Ole Miss 4, #28 South Alabama 1
Doubles
(1) No. 24 Tveit/Claesson (MISS) def. Sramek/Hodel (USA), 8-1
(2) Baker/Nagel (USA) vs. Wellermann/Berg (MISS), 4-4
(3) Poole/Klaeson (MISS) def. Dunne/Doskarayev (USA), 8-3
Singles
(1) No. 13 Erling Tveit (MISS) def. No. 84 Dias Doskarayev (USA), 6-2, 6-4
(2) No. 99 Jack Baker (USA) vs. No. 70 Eric Claesson (MISS), 6-3, 2-6, 2-0
(3) No. 51 Marek Sramek (USA) def. No. 33 Robbye Poole (MISS), 6-3, 6-2
(4) Robert Hodel (USA) vs. Jonas Berg (MISS), 6-7, 1-2
(5) Kalle Norberg (MISS) def. R.J. Nagel (USA), 6-3, 6-2
(6) Jakob Klaeson (MISS) def. Craig Dunne (USA), 6-4, 6-3
