Doubles trouble was too much to overcome for the Tennessee men's tennis team Saturday.
The eighth-ranked Vols lost the doubles point for just the fifth time this season and the setback set the tone for a 4-2 loss to No. 6 Ole Miss in the SEC tournament semifinals in Fayetteville, Ark.
"Ole Miss came out and played a great match at No. 1 doubles and hit their stride early and we weren't able to recover,'' UT coach Sam Winterbotham said. "But we still had a chance to get the point on courts 2 and 3. We were up a break on both courts and just couldn't get it done."
After an 8-1 win at No. 1 doubles, Ole Miss (20-4) clinched the crucial point when Robbye Poole and Matthias Wellerman defeated the Tennessee duo of Davey Sandgren and Jeremy Tweedt, 9-7, at the No. 2 position. Tennessee (21-3) is 2-3 this season when losing the doubles point.
"It's hard to get four points in singles against great teams like Ole Miss,'' Winterbotham said. "We were competing. We just couldn't come back from losing the doubles point today."
J.P Smith and Boris Conkic won singles matches for Tennessee.
The Vols now will wait for the NCAA tournament field to be announced April 29.
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Comments » 1
VolTennisFan writes:
Congratulations to the UT tennis team on a great season. I know the team will go far in the NCAA's. It would be nice to see Chris Racz and Matt Brewer in the lineup for the NCAA's. They have worked hard and are great players.
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