AUBURN, Ala. – Ole Miss men’s tennis fought through a difficult clash with LSU in the opening round of the SEC Tournament on Thursday, with the Rebels punching their ticket to the SEC Quarterfinals with a 4-3 victory over the Tigers.
The Rebels (17-8, 6-6 SEC) were down early after dropping the match’s doubles point to the Tigers (14-10, 4-8 SEC), but clutch wins in singles and a clinching blow from senior Simon Junk helped send the Rebels through to the SEC Quarterfinals for just the second time in five seasons.
“We knew that it was going to be a tough match today against LSU,” head coach Toby Hansson said. “After a slow start in doubles, we were able to find a way to get the win. Once again Simon came up clutch for us in the deciding match.”
Ole Miss found itself down early to the Tigers, with quick doubles victories on Court 1 and Court 2 putting LSU up 1-0 heading into singles play. The Tigers kept their momentum going on Court 1 right into singles, as Nikola Slavic dropped his match 7-5, 6-0 to give the Rebels a 2-0 deficit.
Freshman Isac Strömberg wouldn’t let that last for long, however, as the Stockholm, Sweden, native came up big for the team in his first collegiate postseason match. Strömberg would make quick work of his opponent in No. 6 singles, claiming a 6-3, 6-4 straight-set victory to cut the Tiger lead down to one.
John Hallquist Lithen kept the team’s foot on the gas, with Lithen fighting through Stefan Latinovic to earn a 7-5, 6-3 win of his own on Court 2. With the pivotal win from the junior, the Rebels now returned to level pegging with the Tigers with the remaining three matches heading…
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