The University of Mississippi Athletics
Rebel Netters Picked To Win The SEC In Preseason Poll
1/21/2004 | Men's Tennis
Jan. 21, 2004
OXFORD, Miss. - The Ole Miss men's tennis team, ranked No. 6 in the nation, was picked to win the SEC overall championship this season in the 2004 Preseason Coaches Poll voted on by the coaches at the SEC Indoor Championships last weekend in Athens, Ga.
Ole Miss received 133 total points to edge out Vanderbilt by two. Kentucky, Florida, Georgia and LSU round out the top six. The bottom half is led off by Auburn, followed by Alabama, Tennessee, Mississippi State, Arkansas and South Carolina.
The SEC is arguably the nation's top conference as evident by the preseason national rankings, which has Florida, Vanderbilt and Kentucky also ranked in the top 10 along with Ole Miss. LSU, Alabama, Georgia and South Carolina are also ranked in the top 25.
"It's exciting that the SEC coaches have recognized us as one of the best teams in the conference," head coach Billy Chadwick said. "This is shaping up to be one of the strongest years ever in the conference. Presently, we have two teams (Vanderbilt and Florida) ranked in the top five in the country, as well as Ole Miss and Kentucky in the top 10, but I see the potential of three additional SEC teams working their way into the nation's top 10.
"We have a huge challenge ahead of us as we face four of the top ranked teams (Vanderbilt, Florida, Kentucky and LSU) on the road. This is perhaps one of the strongest lineups we've ever had from top to bottom. The players have a great work ethic and tremendous team comradery. They have their sights on a championship."
The Rebels return four of their top six from last year's team that reached the NCAA Elite Eight and won the SEC Western Division Championship for the second consecutive year. Leading the way is junior Catalin Gard, who earned All-America and All-SEC honors in 2003 and is ranked No. 20 in the nation.
Joining Gard at the top is fellow All-SEC performers Paul Ciorascu and Claes Lindholm. The seniors are both ranked in the preseason national rankings and both reached the quarterfinals at the SEC Indoor Championships this past weekend. Ciorascu will attempt to follow up his outstanding season last year, in which he became just the second Rebel to go undefeated in the SEC.
Junior Karim Alayli is back after going 11-5 at No. 6 singles in his first season with the Rebels. He won eight of his last nine matches and posted an 8-2 mark in the SEC, including rallying to clinch a huge win on the road against Auburn.
The Rebels boast four highly touted newcomers that makes this one of the deepest teams in Chadwick's tenure at Ole Miss. Juan Pablo Di Cesare one of the top junior players in Argentina is ready to roll after becoming eligible in January. Eric Claesson was the No.1 ranked player in under 18s in Sweden and got the attention of coaches at the SEC Indoor last weekend, reaching the semifinals in doubles.
Fredrik Aarum of Oslo, Norway, joined the team in the fall and posted an impressive 9-5 record. Benjamin Carlotti of Paris, France, was one of the top junior players in under 18s and reached the quarterfinals in doubles at the French National Championships.
Fans will get their first chance to see the Rebels this Sunday as they kick off the 2004 dual match season against Tennessee-Chattanooga at 1 p.m., at the Gillom Sports Center.
2004 SEC MEN'S TENNIS PRESEASON COACHES POLL
1. Ole Miss 1332. Vanderbilt 1313. Kentucky 1144. Florida 1115. Georgia 956. LSU 897. Auburn 598. Alabama 518. Tennessee 5110. Mississippi State 4811. Arkansas 3212. South Carolina 22
