No. 45 Razorbacks Open Road Stretch with Doubleheader Against No. 53 Ole Miss, MVSU
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The No. 45 Arkansas men’s tennis team (13-5, 1-2) begins a four-match road stretch with a doubleheader on Friday, March 15, against No. 53 Ole Miss (8-6, 1-2) at 3 p.m. and Mississippi Valley State (0-11) at 7 p.m.
The Razorbacks split their two matches last weekend versus No. 52 Vanderbilt and No. 24 South Carolina. In the first match against the Commodores, the Hogs claimed the doubles point and all six singles courts en route to a 7-0 sweep for their first SEC win. Božo Barun earned his second ranked victory of the season while Stefanos Savva collected his team-leading 11th singles win this spring.
Arkansas took the doubles point again versus the Gamecocks as Barun/Jared Horwood and Melvin Manuel/Alan Sau Franco secured victories to take the early 1-0 advantage. In their first time playing together, the duo of Barun/Horwood recorded a 2-0 weekend which included a top-10 win over No. 10 Hoole/Samuel (South Carolina). Benedikt Emesz and Karlo Kajin also shined last weekend, grabbing two victories each at the No. 5 and No. 6 positions, respectively.
No. 53 Ole Miss has started the season 8-6 and 1-2 in SEC play. The Rebels most recently split their matches last weekend, defeating No. 19 LSU before falling to No. 10 Texas A&M. Senior Nikola Slavic heads the Ole Miss lineup on court one and leads the team with 10 singles wins. At the No. 2 position, senior John Hallquist Lithén holds a 7-4 singles record while the lineup also features sophomore Isac Strömberg on court three. The doubles lineup for the Rebels is highlighted by No. 54 Slavic/Lukas Engelhardt in the top spot and Lithén/Carson Baker on court two. Both tandems have reached 10 doubles victories this spring as Slavic/Engelhardt have also earned three ranked victories this year.
The Delta Devils are off to an 0-11 start and are coming off a loss to Southern last Saturday. Senior Stefon Smith and junior Markwan Perkins head the MVSU singles lineup, playing at the No. 1 and No. 2 positions, respectively. The duo of junior Jayren Fox and sophomore Omar Emmons have primarily competed on court one in doubles play.
Live coverage of the Ole Miss match will be provided by Cracked Racquets as part of the SEC CrossCourt whip-around broadcast streamed on SEC Network+. Live stats & video links for both matches are available on the men’s tennis schedule page.
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