The University of Mississippi Athletics

SEC West Champion Rebels Preparing To Host Conference Tournament

4/10/2003 | Men's Tennis

April 10, 2003

OXFORD, Miss. - The 2003 SEC Western Division Champion Ole Miss men's tennis team, ranked No. 5 in the nation, is making preparations for the SEC Championships, which will be held April 17-20 at the Palmer/Salloum Tennis Center. The Rebels head to Starkville Saturday to conclude the regular season against arch-rival Mississippi State at 1 p.m.

Ole Miss, presently tied with Vanderbilt for second overall in the SEC, will be assured a No. 2 or 3 seed in the SEC Championship depending on this weekend's results. The Rebels will play their first match in the conference tournament on Friday at 2 p.m. The rest of the schedule will be finalized once regular season play ends this weekend.

The Rebels clinched their second straight SEC Western Division title last Friday with a 7-0 win over Arkansas. The Rebels have finished among the top four in the SEC regular season 10 consecutive years. That's an impressive feat when you consider that all 12 teams made the NCAA Championships in 2002 for the second year in a row.

"We've got our sights on a healthy Mississippi State team, who is playing perhaps their best tennis of the year," head coach Billy Chadwick said. "We look forward to finishing out the regular season with a win and coming home to host the SEC Championship."

Junior Paul Ciorascu seeks to become the second Rebel ever to go undefeated in the regular season with his 10-0 conference mark. Ranked No. 27 in the nation, Ciorascu has won nine in a row and 13 of his last 14.

Mississippi State enters the match at 7-11 overall and 3-7 in the SEC. The Bulldogs have dropped back-to-back matches, a 4-3 loss to LSU and a 5-2 defeat to Arkansas. The Bulldogs are led by 17th-ranked Romain Ambert, who is 31-9 during his career at No. 1 singles.

In the feature match of the day, Rebel senior All-American Alex Hartman, ranked No. 9 in the nation, will take on All-American Ambert. The two have faced each other three times, and Hartman claimed the most recent match-up, a straight-set win in the Mississippi Cup in Jackson.

The Rebels have claimed 10 in a row over State, including a 4-0 win in the sixth annual Mississippi Cup on Feb. 13 of this year. The streak dates back to the 1999 regular season meeting. Ole Miss leads the overall series 29-22.

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