FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The Ole Miss men’s tennis team notched another conference victory to their belt on Thursday, as the No. 35 Rebels took down No. 44 Arkansas on the road, 4-2, for their ninth straight match win.
The Rebels (12-2, 2-0 SEC) had a slow start to their match, dropping the doubles point to the Razorbacks (12-3, 0-2 SEC), but with singles victories across the team’s top four courts by Nikola Slavic, John Hallquist Lithen, Simon Junk and Lukas Engelhardt, Ole Miss got the job done to remain undefeated in conference play.
Ole Miss fell in its No. 2 and No. 3 doubles matches to give Arkansas an early 1-0 advantage, but the Rebels’ lull on the scoreboard wouldn’t last much longer.
Fueled by strong singles play by Nikola Slavic on Court 1 and Lukas Engelhardt on Court 4, the Rebels quickly turned the tide by earning two straight-set singles victories, giving Ole Miss a 2-1 lead on the Razorbacks. Slavic, who entered the matchup ranked as the No. 69 singles player in the nation, now increases his singles win streak to five consecutive wins.
The Razorbacks responded back with a singles win of their own not long after, with Arkansas earning a 6-3, 6-4 win on Court 5 to draw the scoreboard back to even. Despite match points and tiebreakers, the remaining three Rebels all went to third sets to decide the day’s match winner.
First, it was the veteran Simon Junk that teed up the Rebels for a clinching scenario, as the senior fought his way back through three grueling sets to earn a 3-6, 6-1, 7-5 win, putting the team one win away. The win marks Junk’s 74th singles win of his Rebel career, with the Marpingen, Germany,…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Ole Miss Athletics…