The University of Mississippi Athletics
Men's Tennis Ranked No. 5 In Nation
2/22/2005 | Men's Tennis
Feb. 22, 2005
OXFORD, Miss. - The Ole Miss men's tennis team moved up a spot to No. 5 in the latest ITA National Rankings released Tuesday, after advancing to the semifinals at the USTA/ITA National Team Indoor last weekend in Chicago.
The Rebels, the 2004 SEC Champions, advanced to the National Team Indoor semifinals for the second year in a row and the fourth time overall. They were the only SEC team to reach the semifinals.
Baylor, who won the tournament, remained at No. 1 in the rankings, followed by Virginia, Illinois, UCLA and Ole Miss. Duke, Florida, Georgia, Texas A&M and LSU round out the top 10. The SEC leads the nation with four teams in the top 10 and eight in the top 25.
The first computer rankings for singles and doubles were also released Tuesday, and senior Catalin Gard, who was named the SEC Player of the Week for the week of Feb. 14-20, is ranked No. 4 in the nation. The previous individual rankings were done by vote of the national ranking committee.
The remainder of the season should be an exciting race to the NCAA Singles Championships as just a little more than a point separates the top four players in the country. Illinois' Ryler Deheart is ranked No. 1 with an average of 40.8, while Gard boasts a 39.05 average.
Gard, the 2004 SEC Player of the Year, owns a 14-3 overall record, 6-1 at No. 1 singles. He went 4-2 in singles and doubles last week in leading the Rebels to wins over Northwestern, Southern Cal and Florida.
Freshman Jakob Klaeson made his debut in the rankings at No. 52. He is off to a 7-2 start in his first semester with the Rebels, including going 4-2 in singles and doubles at the National Team Indoor.
The Rebels return to the courts Saturday as they host Middle Tennessee at Noon at the Palmer/Salloum Tennis Center.
