Saturday, May 13, 2006

OXFORD, Miss. –  The Ole Miss men’s tennis team downed Belmont (making its first NCAA appearance) 4-0 Saturday in front of a packed house at the Palmer/Salloum Tennis Center to advance to the second round of the NCAA Championships. 

With the win, Ole Miss improved to 21-5, while Belmont ends its season at 7-9.  The Rebels improved to 11-2 in NCAA competition at home and will be looking to advance to the “Sweet Sixteen” for the 11^th time.  They reached the Final Four last year in College Station, Texas.

The Rebels dominated the doubles to take the early 1-0 lead.   Bramten Berge and Juan Pablo Di Cesare downed Alex Gillot and Ignacio Gesto 8-2 at No. 2 doubles.   On court one, Erling Tveit and Eric Claesson beat Fausto Rocha and Javier Rodriguez 8-3 to clinch the point.  The Rebels improved to 79-4 when winning the doubles point since the 2002 season.

In singles, Jakob Klaeson was first off the court, cruising to a 6-1, 6-0 win over Felipe Abreu at No. 6.  Playing his last matches at home, Di Cesare, the lone senior on the team, finished off BU’s Rodriguez 6-0, 6-2 at No. 4, to make it 3-0 Ole Miss.

Claesson downed Bruin Gillot 6-2, 6-1 to clinch the victory and send the Rebels onto the second round for the 15^th time overall. The Rebels are now 29-14 in NCAA play.

Ole Miss will face the winner of the Auburn/Florida State match Sunday at 1 p.m., with the winner advancing to the “Sweet Sixteen” in Palo Alto, Calif.
               
DOUBLES
#1 Tveit/Claesson (OM) def. Rocha/Rodriguez (BU) 8-3
#2 ten Berge/Di Cesare (OM) def. Gillot/Gesto (BU) 8-2
#3 Poole/Klaeson (OM) vs. Lima/Abreu (BU) 7-1, sus.
SINGLES
#1 Erling Tveit (OM) vs. Felipe Lima (BU) 6-2, 2-3, sus.
#2 Eric Claesson (OM) def. Alex Gillot (BU) 6-2, 6-1
#3 Bram ten Berge (OM) vs. Fausto Rocha (BU) 7-6, sus.
#4 Juan Pablo Di Cesare (OM) def. Javier Rodriguez (BU) 6-0, 6-2
#5 Robbye Poole (OM) vs. Ignacio Gesto (BU) 6-1, 4-2, sus.
#6 Jakob Klaeson (OM) def. Felipe Abreu (BU) 6-1, 6-0