|
No. 15 VU Men’s Tennis Falls To No. 2 Ole Miss, 5-2 3/12/2004
No. 15 VU Men’s Tennis Falls To No. 2 Ole Miss, 5-2 NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The 15th-ranked Vanderbilt men’s tennis team suffered a tough 5-2 loss in Southeastern Conference action to second-ranked Ole Miss at the Brownlee O. Currey Jr. Tennis Center Friday. Playing outside for only the second time this season, the Commodores dropped the doubles point and were unable to claw out the win in singles play. The doubles point was claimed by Ole Miss after three tough matches were battled out. At one time on each court, the Commodores would have a 5-4 lead. The Rebels earned late breaks on the first two courts and both of their ranked doubles tandems would prevail. At first doubles, VU’s Chad Harris and Scott Brown fell, 8-5, to 25th-ranked Catalin Gard and Paul Ciorascu. Commodores Zach Dailey and Greg Sossaman were also on the short end of their doubles match, falling, 8-6, to 34th-ranked Claes Lindholm and Eric Claesson at second doubles. The momentum went back and forth in singles play, as the Dores fought their way back into the match against the No. 2 Rebels. The two teams split first sets on the six courts, with Vanderbilt winning first sets at first, third and fifth singles. Ole Miss would score the first singles victory when Fredrik Aarum defeated VU sophomore Sossaman, 6-1, 6-3 at sixth singles to open up a 2-0 Rebel lead. The Commodores would come back to tie the match at two. Senior Lew Smith picked up a straight-set victory at fifth singles, knocking off Claesson of Ole Miss, 6-3, 6-4. Commodore junior Matt Lockin even the scored when he finished off Juan Pablo Di Cesare at fourth singles. Di Cesare claimed the first set, 6-4, but Lockin would roar back to take the next two, 6-4, 6-4, and bring Vanderbilt even with Ole Miss at 2-2. The Rebels regained the lead at 3-2 when the 32nd-ranked Lindholm defeated VU’s 47th-ranked Dailey, 6-3, 7-5, at second singles. The match was down to courts one and three, where Vanderbilt had won a pair of first sets. On court three, Brown used one service break to take his first set, 6-3. Senior Chad Harris, the Commodores’ top ranked player at No. 16, took his first set in a tiebreaker, 7-6 (4). But both Brown and Harris would drop their second sets — Harris fell at 6-4, while Brown lost in a tiebreaker, 7-6 (6). The two courts moved into their decisive third sets. Ole Miss’ Ciorascu opened the third set on court three by breaking serve against Brown. It would be the final break of the match, as both players held serve for the remainder and Ciorascu held on for a 3-6, 7-6 (6), 6-4 win, giving the Rebels a 4-2 victory overall. With the outcome of the match already decided, VU’s Harris retired from his match rather than completing the grueling third set, giving Ole Miss its final 5-2 tally. Harris had fought through cramps for the entirety of the second half. The match at first singles had been on serve in the third set, with Gard, the nation’s 14th-ranked play, leading, 2-1. Vanderbilt (8-5, 2-1 in the Southeastern Conference) will remain at home next weekend to continue league play against Arkansas and Louisiana State at the Currey Tennis Center on March 19 and 21, respectively. No. 2 Ole Miss def. No. 15 Vanderbilt, 5-2 Doubles Singles |
