OXFORD, Miss. – The No. 32 Ole Miss men’s tennis team fell in a heartbreaker Friday evening, with the Rebels dropping their match against No. 6 South Carolina, 5-2.
The Rebels (13-6, 3-4 SEC) fought to the very end against the Gamecocks (17-3, 6-2 SEC), staying within striking distance in nearly every match until the very end. Despite this, the No. 6 South Carolina side was able to power through Ole Miss to grab a 5-2 victory in Oxford.
To open the day in doubles, the Rebels battled with some difficult doubles matchups, including John Hallquist Lithen and Simon Junk taking on the No. 1 doubles pairing in the country. With hard-fought matches across all three courts, the Gamecocks were able to prevail with 6-4 and 6-3 victories on Court 1 and 3, claiming the doubles point.
After playing the opening few games of singles at Palmer/Salloum Tennis Center, rain forced the Rebels indoors to the William F. Galtney Tennis Center to conclude the remainder of the match.
The Gamecocks kept their momentum from doubles going, earning a quick singles victory on Court 6 to put USC up 2-0 on the Rebels. Ole Miss was able to find a response however, in the form of Lukas Engelhardt.
The Augsburg, Germany, native rose to the occasion in No. 4 singles when matches up against the No. 82 singles player in the nation, navigating the match for a clean 6-4, 6-1 win to put the Rebels on the board. The win marks Engelhardt’s first ranked singles win of the season, as well as just his fourth ranked singles win of his career.
Once again, the Gamecocks responded to this, however, with Simon Junk falling 6-4, 6-1 on Court 3 to put South Carolina up 3-1. The Rebels…
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