Alabama Tennis Falls to 2nd-Ranked Ole Miss, 4-3
3/5/2004 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
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TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - The University of Alabama men’s tennis team lost 4-3 in its Southeastern Conference opener to 2nd-ranked Ole Miss in Oxford at the Gillom Sports Center on Friday.
Ole Miss improved to 9-1 (1-0 SEC) on the year while Alabama drops to 4-3 (0-1 SEC). Alabama travels to Starkville, Miss. on Sunday to face the No. 43 Mississippi State Bulldogs.
The Crimson Tide was without the senior leadership of Christian Brodersen, who was forced to miss the match because of an injury. Brodersen is Alabama’s active career leader in singles wins.
“We were just a little short of what we needed today,” Alabama head coach Billy Pate said. “We were without one of our key players and we had some circumstances we needed to overcome, but we have to be able to rise to the challenge in those situations.”
For the third time this season, Alabama was on the brink of winning the doubles point before seeing the opening point of the match taken away. No. 1 doubles team Stephen Mitchell and Chris Gostek scored an 8-5 win, and No. 2 doubles duo Eric Molnar and RJ Murray lost a narrow 9-7 contest, leaving the deciding match to the No. 3 doubles spot.
The No. 3 double match went to a tiebreaker, with Ole Miss’s Juan Pablo Di Cessare and Fredrik Aarum edged Bama’s freshman duo Joseph Jung and Mike Green, winning 9-8 (7-3).
The Tide battled back in singles, coming up just a couple of games short at No. 5 singles, the match-clinching victory for Ole Miss. After losing the first set 6-0, Mike Green fought his way back into the match in the second set, but couldn’t overcome the momentum of Rebel Eric Claesson, losing 6-4 in the second.
Alabama freshman Joseph Jung struck the first point for Alabama with a straight-set win over Claes Lindholm, and Eric Molnar pulled the Tide within one with a two-set win over Juan Pablo Di Cesar at No. 5 singles. Jung’s win was his fourth straight singles triumph.
Alabama’s match will Mississippi State begins at 1 PM on Sunday.
No. 2 Ole Miss 4, No. 24 Alabama 3
Doubles
1. Mitchell/Gostek (UA) d. Gard/Ciorascu (OM) 8-5
2. Lindholm/Claesson (OM) d. Molnar/Murray (UA) 9-7
3. Di Cesare/Aarum (OM) d. Jung/Green (UA) 9-8 (3)
Singles
1. Catalin Gard (OM) d. Stephen Mitchell (UA) 6-3, 6-1
2. Paul Ciorascu (OM) d. Chris Gostek (UA) 6-4, 6-2
3. Joseph Jung (UA) d. Claes Lindholm (OM) 6-1, 6-4
4. Eric Molnar (UA) d. Juan Pablo Di Cesar (OM) 6-4, 6-3
5. Eric Claesson (OM) d. Mike Green 6-0, 6-4
6. RJ Murray (UA) vs. Karim Alayli (OM) 7-6, 7-6
