OXFORD, Miss. -- The No.2 nationally ranked Ole Miss men’s tennis team shut out No. 16 South Carolina 4-0 here Sunday afternoon at the Palmer/Salloum Tennis Center to remain undefeated in the SEC at 6-0, 16-2 overall.

This marks the best start in league play for the Rebels since the 2004 season when they started 7-0 and won their third overall SEC Championship.  Ole Miss has now defeated six straight Top 25 teams in the SEC.

Making Sunday’s win even more impressive, is the fact that the Rebels started their 4-2 win over No. 7 Florida at 4 p.m. Eastern Friday and finished it at midnight Saturday, after a 5-hour rain delay.  Following that, they had to drive two hours to Orlando to catch a 6 a.m. flight.  The team got back to Oxford at around 9 a.m., Saturday with little time to rest up before facing the Gamecocks (14-4, 3-3).           

Ole Miss won a very close doubles point to take the 1-0 lead.  Kalle Norberg and Otto Sauer won 9-7 at No. 3, but the other two courts would go to tiebreakers.  The No. 2 ranked duo of Bram ten Berge and Jonas Berg finished off USC’s Diego Cubas and Ivan Machado 9-8(4) at No. 1 doubles to secure the point.  Ole Miss led 6-2 in the breaker on court two.

In singles, the Rebels carried the momentum over from winning the doubles and took five of the first sets.  Freshman Devin Britton downed Pedro Campos at No. 2 6-1, 6-2 to go 2-0 on the weekend, including his big come from behind victory at Florida. 

Bram ten Berge defeated Ivan Machado 6-3, 6-3 at No. 4 singles to make it 3-0, and then freshman Otto Sauer clinched it with a 6-2, 6-0 win over Johannes Pulsfort at No. 5. 

“This was a great win under very tough circumstances,” head coach Billy Chadwick said. “We had a big win over Florida and then we had enough time to eat and drive straight to Orlando to check-in for our flight.  We found a way to get the doubles point and that helped us, because we needed a boost.  It kind of took the wind out of their (USC) sails and gave us a lot of confidence. 

“Devin beat one of the hottest players in the SEC down at Florida and then to beat Campos, who is having a great season.  He has really stepped it up. He’s looking like a veteran out there now.”

Chris Thiemann was two points away from winning on six, Kalle Norberg was up a set on three, and Jonas Berg was 2-2 in the second down a set, when the match was stopped.

The Rebels will play their final home regular season matches next weekend beginning with No. 13 Kentucky Friday at 4 p.m. 

DOUBLES

1. Berg/ten Berge (OM) def. Cubas/Machado (USC) 9-8(4)

2. Britton/Tucker Vorster (OM) vs. Campos/Cressoni (USC) 8-8(6-2), sus.

3. Norberg/Sauer (OM) def. Cuellar/Pulsfort (USC) 9-7

Order of Finish: 3, 1

SINGLES

1. Jonas Berg (OM) vs. Diego Cubas (USC) 5-7, 2-2, sus.

2. Devin Britton (OM) def. Pedro Campos (USC) 6-1, 6-2

3. Kalle Norberg (OM) vs. Jaime Cuellar (USC) 6-0, 4-5, sus.

4. Bram ten Berge (OM) def. Ivan Machado (USC) 6-3, 6-3

5. Otto Sauer (OM) def. Johannes Pulsfort (USC) 6-2, 6-0

6. Chris Thiemann (OM) vs. Ivan Cressoni (USC) 6-3, 5-1, sus.

Order of Finish: 2, 4, 5