In the bitter cold on the Varsity Tennis Courts Thursday, the Memphis men’s tennis team endured another heartbreaking lost to a top-ranked opponent.
Against No. 5 Ole Miss, the match came down to a third set between Tiger freshman Alex Bucewicz and Rebel sophomore Claes Lindholm. Lindholm took the third set, 6-3, to give Ole Miss the 4-3 win.
Tiger head coach Phil Chamberlain said his team gave a strong performance and left everything it had on the court.
“They played with their hearts,” Chamberlain said. “I’m very proud of them. I really thought they played with a lot of heart and we gave them everything they could handle.
“We were knocking on the door. We were just a couple points away from taking it.”
With the win, Ole Miss improved to 11-3 while the Tigers dropped to 10-5.
The loss ended the Tigers’ six-match winning streak and gave them their third loss to an opponent ranked in the Top 30.
As the match got underway, it looked as if the 51st-ranked Tigers would end their misfortune against Top 30 foes.
Led by pairs Lee Taylor Walker/Ben Stapp and Michael Chamberlain/Joe Schmulian, Memphis took the first two doubles matches 8-4 and 8-5, respectively.
The doubles victories gave the Tigers a one-point lead heading into singles action.
In singles competition, two Tigers earned points with straight-set wins. Walker defeated Ole Miss’ Paul Ciorascu, 6-1, 6-2, to give the Tigers a 2-0 advantage.
“This was our fourth team we played in the Top 30,” Walker said. “We were pretty confident coming into the match.”
After the Rebels tied things up at 2-2, Chamberlain gave the Tigers the lead with a 7-6, 6-2 win over Patrick Chucri. Chamberlain, the son of Tiger head coach Phil Chamberlain, made a tremendous comeback in the first set after falling behind 5-1 to win in a tiebreaker.
The younger Chamberlain said his comeback was part of Memphis’ never-say-die attitude.
“You keep hanging in there; you are never out of it until it is over,” Chamberlain said. “I was just happy to contribute to the team.”
After Memphis took the 3-2 lead, Ole Miss’ Lindholm and Kristofer Stahlberg won the final two single matches.
Coach Chamberlain said his team’s shaky play late gave Ole Miss the green light to attack.
“I think maybe they doubted their talent,” the third-year head coach said. “They doubted a little bit and their opponents took advantage of it.”
Chamberlain said his team would regroup and be ready to take on its next tough task.
“I think we’ll bounce back,” Chamberlain said. “I think they are resilient enough. I think they respect the fact they played well and got beat today by a Top 10 team. They handle it because they got a lot of character.”
Memphis returns to action this weekend when it travels to Irvine, Calif., for the 23rd Annual Anteater Classic. The Tigers are listed as the tourney’s top seed.
In women’s tennis Thursday, the Lady Tigers were swept, 4-0, by North Texas to fall to 2-8 on the season.
North Texas took two of the three doubles matches and won at numbers one, five and six singles for the victory. The other three singles matches were stopped because of cold weather.
