The University of Mississippi Athletics
Rebel Netters Earn All-SEC Honors
4/19/2005 | Men's Tennis
April 19, 2005
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Ole Miss men's tennis players Catalin Gard, Erling Tveit and Karim Alayli earned All-SEC first and second team honors as the 2005 Men's Tennis Awards were announced Tuesday.
Gard, a first-team honoree, earned All-SEC honors for the third time in his career. The 2004 SEC Player of the Year, Gard finished his senior campaign 9-2 in the SEC at No. 1 singles and led the No. 3 nationally-ranked Rebels to the overall SEC Championship for the second year in a row and their fourth consecutive Western Division title.
Tveit, one of the top freshmen in the conference, made the second team. He posted a 9-2 record in the SEC at No. 3 singles and played a huge role in the Rebels' championship run.
Alayli also grabbed second team honors. The senior went 6-1 in singles this year for the Rebels and came up big in the match against Florida. Alayli's win at No. 6 singles clinched the victory over the Gators, which ultimately allowed the Rebels' to claim a share of the SEC Championship with last Saturday's win against Mississippi State.
"We are very proud of our seniors, Cat and Karim, and our freshman, Erling," head coach Billy Chadwick said. "All three were instrumental in our claiming the SEC Championship. Being named All-SEC is one of the top honors in collegiate tennis."
Ole Miss has had a player named to the All-SEC team 12 consecutive years. The SEC is arguably the top conference in the nation with three teams ranked in the latest top 10 and seven in the top 25.
The Rebels are the No. 1 seed in the SEC Tournament which begins Thursday, April 21 and runs through Sunday, April 25 in Athens, Ga., at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex.
Ole Miss will face the winner of the No. 8 seed LSU/No. 9 seed Auburn, Friday at 9 a.m. ET. To follow the Rebels in the SEC Tournament, go to www.olemisssports.com and click on the SEC Tennis Championship logo.
2005 SEC MEN'S TENNIS AWARDS
FIRST-TEAM ALL-SEC
Jesse Witten, Kentucky
Catalin Gard, Ole Miss
Hamid Mirzadeh, Florida
Greg Ouellette, Florida
Scott Brown, Vanderbilt
Tom Eklund, South Carolina
Gabor Zoltan Pelva, Auburn
John Isner, Georgia
Rohan Gajjar, Arkansas
Antonio Ruiz, Georgia
Ken Skupski, LSU
#Mark Growcott/Ken Skupski, LSU
#John Isner/Antonio Ruiz, Georgia
SECOND TEAM ALL-SEC
Mark Dietrich, Tennessee
Luigi D'Agord, Alabama
Joseph Jung, Alabama
Mark Growcott, LSU
Matic Omerzel, Georgia
Chris Brandi, Florida
Erling Tveit, Ole Miss
Matt Roberts, Arkansas
Karim Alayli, Ole Miss
Matias Ormaza, Georgia
Jesse Witten/Tigran Martirosyan, Kentucky
#Tied for position
SEC CO-COACHES OF THE YEAR
Andy Jackson, Florida
Sylvain Guichard, Mississippi State
SEC PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Jesse Witten, Kentucky
SEC FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR
Greg Ouellette, Florida
SEC SCHOLAR-ATHLETE OF THE YEAR
Paul White, LSU
