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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss Tennis Teams to Participate in Inaugural Intercollegiate Championships
8/2/1999 | Men's Tennis
August 9, 1999
OXFORD, Miss. - The Ole Miss men's and women's tennis teams are among 16 of the nation's top collegiate men's and women's tennis teams that will compete in the first ever co-ed intercollegiate national tennis championships this fall at the WingspanBank.com/World Team Tennis National Collegiate Championships, Oct. 1-3, at Stanford University.
The event, which is sponsored by WingspanBank.com and presented by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) and World Team Tennis, creates the unique scenario in which a co-ed national collegiate champion will be crowned in a NCAA sanctioned sport.
Teams scheduled to participate in the inaugural event include seven regional selections and nine national at-large selections. Ole Miss will represent the South region. The other six regional representatives are Duke (Southeast), Kansas (Central), Notre Dame (Midwest), Princeton (Northeast), Stanford (West) and Texas A&M (Southwest). The national at-large teams are Arizona State, UCLA, Fresno State, LSU, Pepperdine, South Carolina, Southern California, Tennessee and Vanderbilt.
"To be part of this elite field you must have both a strong men's and women's program," Rebel head coach Billy Chadwick said. "We're very excited that the University of Mississippi has been included for this inaugural event. This event, using the tennis team format, should provide excellent exposure for college tennis as well as being great fun for the fans."
The field for the 1999 WingspanBank.com/WTT National Collegiate Tennis Championships is made up of 16 of the top men's and women's NCAA teams based on their combined season-ending ITA rankings. Ole Miss' men finished ranked No. 3 in the nation, while the women earned a final ranking of No. 6.
The teams will use the World Team Tennis format which features teams comprised of at least two men, two women and a coach. Each team match consists of five sets, with one set each of men's singles, women's singles, men's doubles, women's doubles and two mixed doubles. One point is awarded for each game won. A nine-point tiebreaker is played if a set reaches five all. If necessary, overtime and a "Supertiebreaker" are played to determine the outright winner of the match.
The Rebels ended the 1999 season with a 21-6 overall record and advanced to the NCAA Final Four for the third time. The Lady Rebels enjoyed their best season ever, winning the SEC Tournament title and advancing to the NCAA Quarterfinals with a final record of 24-5.