NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The No. 23 Vanderbilt men’s tennis team fell to No. 54 Ole Miss Friday at the Currey Tennis Center. The Rebels won the doubles point and then won three of the next four singles matches to take the contest 4-1.
Vanderbilt (11-4, 2-2 SEC) has now lost back-to-back matches for the first time this season. Ole Miss improves to 4-6 overall and 2-3 in conference play.
“Ole Miss played well, they’re a good team and they came to play today,” said Vanderbilt assistant coach Jamie Hunt. “There are certain things we can control in each match, and I don’t think we’re doing a good job of controlling them right now.”
The Commodores picked up their only point of the day with a win by senior Ryan Lipman. Lipman, ranked No. 102 in the most recent ITA singles rankings, knocked off No. 89 William Kallberg in straight sets at No. 2 singles. The Nashville native improves to 9-2 in dual play and extends his match win streak to seven.
Vanderbilt got behind early, losing the doubles point for the second-consecutive time. Pen Binet and Kris Yee got broken in the fifth game and could never regain any control at the No. 3 position, falling 8-3.
Ole Miss clinched the point with an 8-4 win at No. 2 over Ryan Smith and Rhys Johnson.
Recently ranked No. 1 in the country, Lipman and Gonzales Austin cruised to an 8-3 win over Kallberg and Stefan Lindmark. The Vandy duo notched their 20th victory of the year with the win.
The Commodores won first sets on three courts before the match was suspended 10 minutes due to rain.
“I think the break affected us a little bit,” Hunt said. “Ole Miss did a good job coming out and turning the table on us in a few places. We didn’t do a good job of finishing some guys off when we had chances.”
After the delay Ole Miss came out and answered Vandy’s win at No. 2 with a 6-4, 6-0 win at No. 4 over Johnson to go up 2-1.
The Rebels then pulled out wins at No. 5 and No. 3 to clinch the match.
Austin went unfinished at No. 1 in a battle with No. 44 Nik Scholtz. Jeffrey Offerdahl also went unfinished at No. 6.
Vanderbilt will be back in action on Sunday at noon against No. 21 Mississippi State.
#54 Ole Miss 4, #23 Vanderbilt 1
Singles competition
1. #16 Gonzales Austin (VU) vs. #44 Nik Scholtz (OM) 5-7, 5-4, unfinished
2. #102 Ryan Lipman (VU) def. #89 William Kallberg (OM) 6-4, 6-3
3. Stefan Lindmark (OM) def. Kris Yee (VU) 1-6, 6-2, 6-1
4. Johan Backstrom (OM) def. Rhys Johnson (VU) 6-4, 6-0
5. Ricardo Jorge (OM) def. Anton Kovrigin (VU) 6-4, 7-6 (7-3)
6. Jeffrey Offerdahl (VU) vs. Vinod Gowda (OM) 6-2, 5-6, unfinished
Doubles competition
1. #1 Gonzales Austin/Ryan Lipman (VU) def. William Kallberg/Stefan Lindmark (OM) 8-3
2. Nik Scholtz/Ricardo Jorge (OM) def. Ryan Smith/Rhys Johnson (VU) 8-4
3. Johan Backstrom/Joe Rogers (OM) def. Pen Binet/Kris Yee (VU) 8-3
Match Notes:
Ole Miss 4-6, 2-3 SEC; National ranking #54
Vanderbilt 11-4, 2-2 SEC; National ranking #23
Order of finish: Doubles (1,3,2); Singles (2,4,5,3)
