BATON ROUGE, La.  – The No. 2 nationally ranked Ole Miss men’s tennis team won its 18th straight match of the season by defeating Alcorn State, 4-0, Friday in the first round of the NCAA Tournament at LSU’s W. T. “Dub” Robinson Stadium.

Ole Miss (25-2) wasted no time in doubles as the Rebels’ Kalle Norberg and Otto Sauer defeated Alcorn State’s Alejandro Dominguez and Yanick Shearron-Hawkins 8-0 on court three.  The Rebels moved ahead 1-0 in the match as they clinched the doubles point on court two when Devin Britton and Tucker Vorster beat the Braves’ Anton Krutkin and Alexandr Lidzar 8-1.

In singles, freshman Chris Thiemann defeated Rajpurohit 6-0, 6-1 on court six to make it 2-0, and then the Rebels increased the lead to 3-0 when 40th-ranked Norberg beat Lidzar 6-2, 6-0 at No. 3. 

The Rebels clinched the match on court five when Marcel Thiemann knocked off the Braves’ Alejandro Dominguez 6-3, 6-0.

“The guys have done a great job all year long, and they know that if they are not at their best against any team they can lose. They take that approach into every match, and I think you saw that today,” head coach Billy Chadwick said. “Whichever team we play tomorrow, if we don’t bring our ‘A’ game we are in trouble.”

The Rebels equaled their best win total in school history, and will try to eclipse that mark on Saturday when they face the winner of the LSU/Rice match at 1 p.m.

NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS FIRST ROUND – BATON ROUGE, La.
DOUBLES
1. Berg/ten Berge (OM) vs. Rajpurohit/ Weinbeer (ASU) 7-1, sus.
2. Britton/Tucker Vorster (OM) def. Krutkin/Lidzar (ASU) 8-1
3. Norberg/Sauer (OM) def. Dominguez/Shearron-Hawkins (ASU) 8-0
SINGLES
1.  Jonas Berg (OM) vs. Anton Krutkin (ASU) 6-0, 5-3, sus.
2.  Devin Britton (OM) vs. Winfried Weinbeer (ASU) 6-1, 2-5, sus.
3.  Kalle Norberg (OM) def. Alexandr Lidzar (ASU) 6-2, 6-0
4. Otto Sauer (OM) vs. Yanick Shearron-Hawkins (ASU) 6-2, 2-0, sus.
5. Marcel Thiemann (OM) def. Alejandro Dominguez (ASU) 6-3, 6-0
6. Chris Thiemann (OM) def. Pushpendra Rajpurohit (ASU) 6-0, 6-1