The University of Mississippi Athletics
Men's Tennis To Host Troy Wednesday
3/21/2005 | Men's Tennis
March 21, 2005
OXFORD, Miss. - The Ole Miss men's tennis team, ranked No. 6 in the nation, returns home briefly, to host Troy University Wednesday, in their final non-conference match of the year before heading into the stretch run of the SEC. The two teams will square off beginning at 2 p.m. at the Palmer/Salloum Tennis Center.
Ole Miss picked up three wins over Spring Break to improve to 13-1 overall. The Rebels began the break by defeating Alabama (5-2) and Auburn (6-1) to move to 4-0 in the SEC. They concluded their trip with a 5-2 win at Division II defending NCAA Champion, West Florida.
"It looks like Wednesday is going to be a nice day, so we encourage everyone in the area to come out and support the Rebels," head coach Billy Chadwick said. "We are off to a great start. We play five of our last eight matches at home, so we need everyone to get behind the team as we try to win the SEC again."
Senior Catalin Gard, ranked No. 3 in the nation, won all three of his matches over Spring Break to improve his record to 12-1 at No. 1 singles and inch closer to a milestone. With three wins this week, Gard will become the third Rebel to record 100 career victories. He is also one win shy of 30 SEC victories.
Freshman Erling Tveit continues his outstanding play for the Rebels, coming into this week with an 11-0 dual match record, 7-0 at No. 3 singles. He is 4-0 in the SEC at No. 3 singles. Junior Juan Pablo Di Cesare has been a rock for the Rebels in the lower half of the lineup, posting an 11-0 dual match record, 9-0 at No. 6 singles. Jakob Klaeson, one of three freshmen playing well for the Rebels, is 7-3 at No. 5 singles and teams with freshman Bram ten Berge for an 8-2 record at No. 3 doubles.
Solid doubles play has the Rebels on pace to equal last year's start. All three of Ole Miss' teams have combined for a 22-6 record. Ole Miss has won the doubles point in 12 of their 14 matches and is undefeated when winning the point. In fact, the Rebels are 56-3 when they win the point dating back to the 2002 season.
Troy comes into Wednesday's match with a 3-7 record. In their last action, Troy fell 4-0 to Southern Mississippi. The Trojans are led by the 2004 Atlantic-Sun Freshman and Player of the Year, Irving Morales.
Following Wednesday's match, the Rebels will hit the road again for two key SEC matches against No. 15 Tennessee and No. 5 Georgia this weekend.
