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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss Opens SEC Soccer Tournament with MSU Rematch
11/7/2001 | Soccer
Nov. 7, 2001
BATON ROUGE, La. - The Ole Miss soccer team will be looking to avenge its last loss Thursday when it faces off with Mississippi State for the second time in six days in the first round of the SEC Tournament. Game time is set for 5 p.m. CST at LSU Soccer Complex in Baton Rouge, La.
Leading the Rebels into action will be junior Kristin Chapman, who was named an All-SEC first team defender on Wednesday. It is the second straight all-conference selection for the Vicksburg, Miss., native, but the first as a member of the first team.
Chapman, who is one of only two players to have started every game over the last two years, gives the Rebels' seven All-SEC selections in the program's history.
"It's a tremendous honor for Kristin to be recognized as one of the top defenders in one of the nation's top conferences," said Ole Miss head coach Steve Holeman. "She has been a big part of our team's success over the past two seasons, and she's a great representative for Ole Miss."
The Rebels are making their fifth straight SEC Tournament appearance. Ole Miss is the only Western Division team to have earned a tournament berth the past five seasons and is the West's winningest team (both overall at .580 and in league play at .477) over that stretch.
For the first time in two years, Ole Miss will be seeded lower than No. 2, holding the No. 7 spot. UM is 2-4 in SEC Tournament action with its best finish coming in 1999 when the team advanced to the championship game to play Florida.
This year's opening round provides Ole Miss a rematch of its regular season finale against MSU, a 2-1 double-overtime win for the Bulldogs that dethroned the two-time defending SEC West Champion Rebels. Last year's meeting between the two schools also went into two overtimes and ended in a 0-0 tie. The all-time series between the in-state foes is knotted at 3-3-1.
"It should be a great rematch," Holeman said. "The girls are very well prepared and excited to make a run at a title. We've trained hard this week, and we're definitely ready to play on Thursday."
This season marks the first time State has ever earned the West title or an SEC Tournament berth. The winner of Ole Miss and MSU matches up with the Auburn/Georgia winner in the semifinal round on Friday.