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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Men's Tennis 14th In Nation
6/1/2000 | Men's Tennis
June 1, 2000
OXFORD, Miss. -- The Ole Miss men's tennis team ended the season ranked No. 14 in the nation as the final WingspanBank.com Collegiate Rankings were released Thursday. This marks the seventh consecutive year for the Rebels to finish among the nation's top 15.
Ole Miss ended the year with a 19-6 overall record and just missed out on making the NCAA Sweet Sixteen, losing to eventual finalist VCU in the regional finals. They posted a 9-2 record in the SEC, losing only to NCAA semifinalist Florida and 12th-ranked LSU.
NCAA Champion Stanford holds the top spot followed by Florida, Tennessee, UCLA, Duke, Illinois, Baylor, Texas A&M, VCU and TCU rounding out the top 10. Other SEC teams in the top 30 include LSU, Georgia, Mississippi State and Auburn. A total of 10 teams from the SEC ended the year nationally-ranked.
"To finish among the nation's top 15 teams marks another great year for Ole Miss tennis," head coach Billy Chadwick said. "With the core of this year's team returning the future is very bright."
In the individual rankings, Alexander Hartman ended the year as the second-highest ranked freshman in the nation at No. 27. He finished with a 33-18 overall record and advanced to the second round at the NCAA Singles Championships. Hartman earned All-SEC second team honors and received the ITA Region III Player-to-Watch Award.
Junior James Shortall completed the year ranked No. 51 in the nation in singles. He earned All-SEC honors for the second consecutive year in singles and posted a win over the nation's No. 3 player Daniel Andersson of VCU. Junior Anders Stenman finished ranked No. 91 with a 21-3 record.
In doubles, Shortall and senior Vikrant Chadha, who reached the NCAA Doubles Semifinals this past weekend in Athens, Ga., ended the year ranked No. 12. For their accomplishments they were named All-America and became the third Ole Miss duo to reach the semifinals at the NCAA Championships.
The lone senior on the team, Chadha has been instrumental in the Rebels' success, being a part of two NCAA Final Four appearances and two SEC Championships during his four years.
"Vikrant and James reaching the NCAA Final Four in doubles was a great way to end the season," Chadwick said. "I am really proud of them for earning All-America honors. This is a great way for Vikrant to end his career."