Arkansas Drops SEC Home Opener to Ole Miss, 4-2
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The No. 44 Razorback men’s tennis team (12-3, 0-2) fell short on Thursday night in the SEC home opener at Billingsley Tennis Center to No. 35 Ole Miss (12-2, 2-0). The Hogs clinched the doubles point, but the Rebels responded by winning four of the five singles matches en route to a 4-2 victory.
Arkansas started off strong, taking the doubles point with wins on courts two and three. Juniors Stefanos Savva and Alan Sau Franco grabbed a convincing 6-1 victory in the No. 2 spot over Hallquist Lithen/Junk of Ole Miss. Sophomore Jake Sweeney and junior Foster Rogers followed with a 6-3 win to secure the early 1-0 lead for the Razorbacks.
In singles play, the Rebels answered quickly by taking two straight-set victories from Lukas Engelhardt on court four and No. 69 Nikola Slavic on court one. Sau Franco had the lone singles win for the Hogs, defeating Schlagenhauf 6-3, 6-4 in the No. 5 spot. With the victory, Sau Franco improves to 6-1 in singles play this season. Ole Miss closed out the match with two consecutive three-set wins from Hallquist Lithen and Junk on courts two and three.
The Razorbacks will take on No. 6 Kentucky on Saturday, March 11 at noon before returning home next Saturday on March 18 against No. 39 Texas A&M.
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