Rebel Netters Ready For Arch-Rival Mississippi State

April 12, 2001

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RECORD: 15-6 (6-4 SEC)
NATIONAL RANKING: #11 (ITA/WingspanBank.com)

NEXT UP: #19 Mississippi State
WHERE: Oxford, Miss.
TIME: 1:00 p.m.

REBELS TO HOST ARCH-RIVAL MISSISSIPPI STATE
Ole Miss (15-6, 6-4) will host arch-rival and No. 19 Mississippi State Saturday at 1:00 p.m. at the Palmer/Salloum Tennis Center as the Rebels close out the home schedule. The Rebels are coming off a disappointing 4-3 loss to No. 18 LSU.

SCOUTING MISSISSIPPI STATE
Mississippi State enters Saturday's match with an 11-8 overall record, 5-5 in the SEC. The Bulldogs are coming off a 4-3 loss to No. 22 Alabama on Wednesday. MSU senior Marco Baron had his 14-match winning streak snapped by Alabama's Max Belski. The SEC Player of the Week and the ITA Player of the Month for March, Baron owns a 14-2 record at the top spot. State's Romain Ambert was 10-3 at No. 2 singles before fracturing his foot in the Georgia match costing him the rest of the season.

MISSISSIPPI STATE AND OLE MISS
Ole Miss has won six straight over the Bulldogs. The Rebels defeated Mississippi State three times last year, once in the River Hills Mississippi Cup, once in the regular season and then again in the quarterfinals of the SEC Tournament.

REBELS LOSE HEARTBREAKER TO LSU
Ole Miss lost a tough 4-3 match to No. 18 LSU Wednesday afternoon at the Dub Robinson Tennis Stadium. LSU (14-6, 7-4) claimed the opening doubles point with hard-fought wins at the No. 2 and 3 positions. Jesse Smatt and Sanjin Sadovich defeated Martin Selin and Paul Ciorascu 8-6 on court three. Dan Kiernan and John Gray Pou took care of Alex Hartman and Patrick Chucri 8-6 at No. 2 doubles to clinch the point. In singles, senior James Shortall was the lone winner in the top three, as he evened the match at 1-1 with an easy 6-3, 6-2 win over Sadovich at No. 3 singles. Shortall picked up his 20th win of the year. Selin fell to his doubles opponent, Smatt, 7-5, 6-2 at No. 4 singles to give LSU a 2-1 lead. Kristofer Stahlberg, ranked No. 32 in singles, suffered his second dual match loss of the season, dropping a 7-5, 6-1 decision to 60th-ranked Kiernan at No. 2 singles to make it 3-1 LSU. With the Tigers up 3-1, 15th-ranked Ajay Ramaswami held off 10th-ranked Hartman 7-5, 7-5 to clinch the win. Ciorascu came back to beat LSU's Anthony Mateljan 2-6, 6-3, 6-3 at No. 6 singles, and Patrick Chucri rallied for a 4-6, 7-5, 6-3 win over Pou at No. 5 singles for the Rebels other two singles points.

NATIONAL RANKINGS
Ole Miss is ranked No. 11 in the latest WingspanBank.com ITA National Rankings. Individually, sophomore Alex Hartman is ranked No. 10, Kristofer Stahlberg is ranked No. 32, and James Shortall is ranked No. 44 in singles. In doubles, Shortall and Stahlberg are ranked No. 15.

AGAINST THE BEST
The Rebels are 12-6 this year versus nationally-ranked opponents. They are 2-5 against top 25 foes and 0-4 versus teams in the top 10.

HOME SWEET HOME
Ole Miss is a tough assignment for opponents in Oxford. The Rebels have won 56 of their last 62 matches at home. The Rebels finished 10-1 at home in 2000 and are 8-2 at home this year with their losses coming to No. 5 Georgia and No. 7 Tennessee.

IMPRESSIVE STREAK ENDS
Kristofer Stahlberg had won 16 in a row and came into the Tennessee match undefeated in dual matches at 16-0. Unfortunately, the streak came to an end with a loss to Mark Parsons at No. 1 singles. Currently ranked No. 32 in the nation in singles, Stahlberg has a career dual match record of 50-9. He is a combined 27-5 in singles and doubles this spring. Even more impressive, Stahlberg has a career record of 25-7 in the SEC, the nation's top tennis conference.

STAHLBERG MAKES DEBUT AT NO. 1
Kristofer Stahlberg made his debut at No. 1 singles in the Tennessee match. He lost to Mark Parsons 6-2, 6-3. Sunday, Stahlberg defeated Florida's Nathan Overholser 6-3, 2-0, ret., to win his first match at No. 1 singles. This week he moved back to No. 2 singles, where he is 2-1 after Wednesday's loss. He is currently 17-2 in dual matches.

HOW ABOUT THE TOP THREE
The Rebels are a combined 46-14 at the top three positions in the lineup. Alex Hartman is 13-8, James Shortall is 16-4, and Kristofer Stahlberg is 17-2.

STAHLBERG EARNS SEC HONOR
Kristofer Stahlberg was named the SEC Player of the Week for the week of March 26. He posted a 6-0 record the previous week including wins over the nation's No. 1 doubles team and the 43rd-ranked player in singles. This is the first honor for Stahlberg and the first player of the week for the Rebels this season.

MILESTONES
Kristofer Stahlberg needs one win to notch his 70th career victory. He has won as least 20 matches in a each of his three seasons. He needs one more doubles victory to earn the 50th of his career. Senior James Shortall is approaching his 90th career victory. He needs two more wins to reach 90 for his career. Shortall won his 60th career doubles match when he and Stahlberg defeated Louisiana Monroe's Bart Dabrowski and Rob Bailey. Alex Hartman needs two wins to reach 60 for his career. He currently has 58 career victories.

BLACKBURN RECEIVES TOP AWARD
Senior David Blackburn earned the Taylor Medal for the most outstanding student in the School of Accounting. He received the award at Honors Day ceremonies held last Thursday. Blackburn, a three-time member of the SEC Academic Honor Roll and a member of the Chancellor's Honor Roll, is currently in graduate school.

ON THE COURT
Ole Miss is 12-1 when they win the doubles point and 2-5 when they lose the point...The Rebels are 7-3 in outdoor matches and 8-3 indoors...James Shortall and Kristofer Stahlberg have won eight of their last nine matches at No. 1 doubles...Shortall has won five in a row in singles, all at the No. 3 spot.

The University of Mississippi Athletics

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