Men's Tennis To Host NCAA Regional

May 3, 2001

OXFORD, Miss. - The No. 9 nationally-ranked Ole Miss men's tennis team earned the No. 12 seed overall in the 2001 NCAA Tennis Championships, and will host one of the 16 regionals May 12-13 at the Palmer/Salloum Tennis Center.

Coming to Oxford for the four-team regional will be Southern California, Virginia and Jackson State. The Rebels are the No. 1 seed in the regional followed by USC, Virginia and Jackson State.

"Our selection is a tribute to the success of this year's team through their hard work and dedication," head coach Billy Chadwick said. "We are excited about the teams that are coming to Oxford and it promises to be a great weekend of tennis."

Southern California comes in from the PAC-10 Conference. The Trojans captured back-to-back NCAA titles in 1993 and 1994. Virginia is making its second appearance in Oxford in three years, as they were one of four teams to visit Ole Miss in 1999, when the Rebels hosted a regional. Jackson State won the Southwestern Athletic Conference to earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Championships.

The Rebels will play Jackson State Saturday at Noon. Southern Cal and Virginia will meet at 3:00 p.m. The final will be played at Noon on Sunday, with the winner advancing to the Sweet Sixteen in Athens, Ga., May 18-21.

The NCAA individual selections were also announced Thursday, and three Rebel netters will be competing in singles and doubles in Athens. Alex Hartman, ranked No. 11 in the nation in singles, James Shortall and Kristofer Stahlberg made the 64-player singles draw, while Shortall and Stahlberg qualified for the 32-team doubles field. The singles and doubles championships will be played after the conclusion of the team competition.

Shortall is making his third consecutive appearance in the individual championships, while Hartman is going for the second time in as many years. This marks the first time for Stahlberg, who owns an impressive 18-2 dual match record.

For information on tickets to the regional, fans can call 662-915-7167 or toll-free 1-888-732-8587.

The University of Mississippi Athletics

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