No. 26 Washington tops Hogs 4-3

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — The No. 53 Razorbacks battled, but eventually fell to the No. 26 Washington Huskies, 4-3, Sunday afternoon at the Dills Indoor Tennis Center. The Razorbacks started off strong sweeping the doubles point to take the early lead.
“The highlight of the match was our doubles, “head coach Robert Cox said. “ Practice has been a notch above and it showed today. It was good to see Chris and Dmitry pull out the win but we need to bring that same intensity in all our singles matches.”
On the doubles court, junior Matt Hogan and sophomore Matt Walters earned the first win of the day with an 8-6 win over Washington’s Nedunchezhivan and Kyle McMorrow at the No. 2 spot. Washington followed that with a win at No. 3 doubles as senior Bradwin Williams and freshman Mike Ward rallied but lost the match, 8-6. Senior Dmitry Lebedev and No. 81 junior Chris Nott clinched the doubles point in an intense match against Derek Drabble and Martain Kildahl. Drabble served on match point but Nott’s earned the point with a power return that proved too much for the duo and Arkansas won the match, 9-7.
In the dual loss on court one, the Huskies’ Jeevan Nedunchezhivan raced out to a strong lead with a 3-0 in the first set over junior Chris Nott. Nott made an impressive come back to tie the match at 6-6, but fell in a close tiebreaker. Nott rebounded, grinding out the baseline in the second to tie the match at a set apiece. Nott finished strong, claiming the match in a third set tie-breaker over Nedunchezhivan, 6-7(5), 6-3, 7-6, 1-0 (10-8) in the final match on the court.
At No. 4 singles, Dmitry Lebedev won the first set against Martain Kildhal, but the Husky fought back to force a third set. Lebedev held off the comeback and beat Kildhal, 6-3, 2-6, 6-3.
“It was a tough opener, the crowd really showed their support and the intensity was great," Cox said. “We are going work hard this next week and prepare to face Texas next Friday.”
The Razorbacks will return to the courts to host the No. 8 Texas Longhorns at Dills Indoor Center Fayetteville, Ark. on Friday Jan. 22 at 5:30 p.m.
Washington 4 Arkansas 3
SINGLES
Order: 6, 2, 3, 5*, 4, 1
Chris Nott (AR) def. Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (WASH) 6-7(5), 6-3, 7-6, 1-0(10-8)
Kyle McMorrow (WASH) def. Matt Hogan (ARK) 6-4, 6-3
Derek Dabble (WASH) def. Taylor King (ARK) 6-1, 7-5
Lebedev (ARK) def. Martin Kildahl (WASH) 6-3, 2-6, 6-3
Tobi Obenaus (WASH) def. Nikolas Zogaj 6-4, 6-3
Brad Bator (WASH) def. Matt Walters (ARK) 6-4, 6-0
DOUBLES
Order: 2, 3, 1*
Nott/Lebedev (ARK) def. Kildahl/Drabble (WASH) 9-7
Hogan/Walters (ARK) def. Nedunchezhivan/McMorrow (WASH) 8-6
Obernaus /Rosinski (WASH) def. Bradwin Williams/Michael Ward (ARK) 8-6