Tennessee advances to semifinals with sweep of Ole Miss

AUBURN, Ala. - The ninth-ranked and No. 2 seed Tennessee men's tennis team rolled to a convincing, 4-0, win over Ole Miss Friday at the SEC Tournament to move on to the semifinals.

Tennessee faces No. 3 seed Kentucky Saturday at 1 p.m. ET with a trip to the championship match on the line. The match will be broadcast on SECN+.

Tennessee (21-6) won the doubles point for the 24th time this season, with its wins coming on courts two and three. Tennessee's 46th-ranked duo of Emile Hudd and Shunsuke Mitsui blanked Ole Miss' Lukas Engelhardt and Isac Stromberg on court two, 6-0. The doubles clinch came on court three, as Angel Diaz and Martim Prata clinched for the third time this season, winning, 6-3, over Nikola Slavic and Noah Schlagenhauf of Ole Miss.

Tennessee's fifth-ranked pairing of Pat Harper and Johannus Monday went unfinished at the No. 1 doubles spot, leading 5-4.

The win marks Tennessee's tenth consecutive win over Ole Miss (17-9) and second in nine days.

"We played solid," Tennessee head coach Chris Woodruff said. "I mean, it's a tournament. It's hard this time of season to analyze. If we play well or not is not really the objective. It's win and advance, then prepare for whoever we play tomorrow. Let's role from there."

Tennessee's Blaise Bicknell was the first off court in the singles action, taking care of business in a decisive, 6-2, 6-2, win over Simon Junk on court three. The win serves as Bicknell's sixth win in his last eight completed singles matches.

Court six saw Tomas Rodriguez of Tennessee extended the Big Orange lead to 3-0 without dropping a game in a dominant, 6-0, 6-0, victory over the Rebels' Isac Stromberg. Then, at the No. 4 singles spot, Mitsui clinched for a fifth time this season by taking down Lukas Engelhardt in straight-set fashion, serving out the 6-2, 6-4 win. The clinch ties him with Hudd for the most on the team this dual season.

Johannus Monday, 6-2 on court one, and Hudd, 7-6(2) on court two, each won their first sets before going unfinished.

SEMIFINAL BOUND
Tennessee's 4-0 sweep of Ole Miss Friday sends UT to its fifth consecutive appearance in the SEC Tournament semifinals, dating to 2018 as the event was not held in 2020 due to the COVID-19 global pandemic. Tennessee advanced to the championship match in 2019 and 2021, taking home the crown in 2021.

UP NEXT
The Vols and Wildcats face off Saturday at 1 p.m. ET, with the winner advancing to the championship match.

RESULTS: Tennessee 4, Ole Miss 0
Doubles

1. #5 Pat Harper/Johannus Monday (UT) vs. J. Hallquist Lithen/Simon Junk (OM) 5-4, unfinished
2. #46 Emile Hudd/Shunsuke Mitsui (UT) def. Lukas Engelhardt/Isac Stromberg (OM) 6-0
3. Angel Diaz/Martim Prata (UT) def. Nikola Slavic/Noah Schlagenhauf (OM) 6-3 Order of Finish: (2,3)

Singles
1. #2 Johannus Monday (UT) vs. #67 Nikola Slavic (OM) 6-2, 4-5, unfinished
2. #32 Emile Hudd (UT) vs. J. Hallquist Lithen (OM) 7-6 (7-2), 1-3, unfinished
3. Blaise Bicknell (UT) def. Simon Junk (OM) 6-2, 6-2
4. Shunsuke Mitsui (UT) def. Lukas Engelhardt (OM) 6-2, 6-4
5. Angel Diaz (UT) vs. Noah Schlagenhauf (OM) 6-7 (1-7), 2-1, unfinished
6. Tomas Rodriguez (UT) def. Isac Stromberg (OM) 6-0, 6-0 Order of Finish: (3,6,4)