Men’s Tennis Defeats Arkansas

Jonas Lutjen clinches match for Rebels

From Ole Miss Sports Information

Photo by UM Photographer Kevin Bain.

The No. 7 Ole Miss men’s tennis team held off a determined Arkansas Razorback squad, taking a 4-1 victory at the Dills Indoor Center Sunday afternoon.  With the win, the Rebels improved to 12-5 and 5-3 in the SEC.

With the Rebels leading 3-1 and Courts 5 and 6 in a third set, senior Jonas Lutjen, ranked No. 13 in the nation, closed out Arkansas’ Manfred Jeske in the third set to clinch the Rebels’ 26th straight victory over the Razorbacks.

“It was good to get this road win,” head coach Billy Chadwick said.  “They pushed us and made us work for it, but I’m proud of the team for fighting through until the end.  There’s never any easy matches in the SEC and we were fortunate to come away with the win.”

The match began with Arkansas taking the doubles point.  The 6th ranked duo of Nik Scholtzand Jonas Lutjen took an 8-2 win at No. 1 doubles but the Razorbacks took an 8-4 victory at three and then clinched the point at two, 8-5.

The Rebels won five first sets in singles.  William Kallberg was first off the court in singles on court four, defeating Mike Ward 6-3, 6-4.  On court three, Stefan Lindmark came from 2-5 down in the second for a 6-2, 7-5 straight sets victory over Mike Nott that gave the Rebels a 2-1 lead.

Sophomore Nik Scholtz, ranked No. 14, won a huge first set tiebreaker to propel him to a 7-6, 6-1 win against Gregoire Lehmann at No. 1 singles to put Ole Miss ahead 3-1.

When Lutjen clinched the 4-1 victory, Adrian Forberg Skogeng was down 5-1 in the third at six while Johan Backstromwas up a break at 3-2 in the third at five.

The Rebels will continue on the road Friday, March 29 at No. 12 and arch-rival Mississippi State.

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#7 Ole Miss 4 Arkansas 1
Doubles
1. #6 Scholtz/Lutjen (OM) def. # 60 Jeske/Nott (ARK) 8-2
2. Lehmann/Ward (ARK) def. Backstrom/Lindmark (OM) 8-5
3. Fess/Munoz (ARK) def. Kallberg/Wilder (OM) 8-4
Singles
1. #14 Nik Scholtz (OM)  def. Gregoire Lehmann (ARK) 7-6, 6-1
2. #13 Jonas Lutjen (OM) def. Manfred Jeske (ARK) 6-3, 4-6, 6-3
3. #99 Stefan Lindmark (OM) def. Mike Nott (ARK) 6-2, 7-5
4. #69 William Kallberg (OM) def. Mike Ward (ARK) 6-3, 6-4
5. Johan Backstrom (OM) vs. Victor Hoang (ARK) 6-1, 5-7, 3-2 sus.
6. Adrian Forberg-Skogeng (OM) vs. Santiago Munoz (ARK) 5-7, 6-1, 1-5 sus.