Despite opening with a 2-0 lead over No. 9 Mississippi (21-4) in the round of 16 at the NCAA men's tennis tournament in Athens, Ga., No. 8 Duke (22-6) was unable to hang on and fell to the Rebels, 4-2.
"This was a hard-fought match between two very good teams that could have gone either way," Bulldog head coach Billy Chadwick said.
"We were fortunate to pull through. We got some huge points late in the third sets of the last three matches that were big. It's been a long time since I've seen an Ole Miss team fight as hard as they did today."
With the Rebels ahead 3-2, Duke's No. 25 Philip King was locked in a three-set battle with No. 7 Alex Hartman at the No. 1 singles slot.
After winning the first set 6-3, King fell 6-1 in the second. The Duke junior All-American held a 5-4 lead in the final set, but Hartman won the next three games to clinch the match for Ole Miss and complete the team's comeback.
"I felt confident even though I was getting tired," Hartman said. "I just decided to go for it all at the end. This was a team win, though. We just wanted it more."
The Blue Devils started the match on a positive note, capturing the doubles point when Stephen Amritraj and Jonathan Stokke won 8-3. The No. 3 tandem of King and senior Michael Yani then defeated No. 14 Hartman and Claes Lindholm to the tune of an 8-5 victory to take the 1-0 advantage.
Stokke gave Duke a 2-0 edge with his 7-6, 6-3 triumph over Patrick Chucri in singles.
The remaining five courts all went to three sets, with the Rebels capturing four of the five matches.
After Duke's Peter Shultz and Michael Yani lost, Old Miss took a 3-2 lead as No. 30 Paul Ciorascu defeated No. 55 Ludovic Walter at the No. 3 slot, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3.
"It could have gone either way," Ciorascu said after the match. "When I saw [teammate Catalin Gard] won, that gave me more momentum."
In the singles tournament, both King and Yani fell in the first round. The duo is seeded third in the doubles championship and open play Thursday against Harvard's David Lingman and Mark Riddell. On the season, the duo has proven difficult to beat all season.
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.