The University of Mississippi Athletics
Men's Tennis To Host NCAA Regional
5/3/2006 | Men's Tennis
May 3, 2006
OXFORD, Miss. - For the seventh time in eight years, the Ole Miss men's tennis team will host an NCAA Regional, as the field of 64 was announced for the 2006 Men's Tennis NCAA Championships Wednesday.
The crowd, who gathered at the Downtown Grill along with the Rebels, waited anxiously for the Rebels to appear on the screen as a host site. Finally after several brackets were revealed, the place erupted when "Mississippi" appeared on the screen as the No. 14 seed. This marks the sixth year in a row for Ole Miss to host.
Coming to Oxford for the four-team regional will be Belmont, Auburn and Florida State. This marks the second year in a row and third time in the last four years for Auburn to come to Oxford for the NCAA first and second rounds.
"We are very excited to be hosting a regional," head coach Billy Chadwick said. "We knew it could be a tight call. It was a little surprising to see Florida left out of hosting. We don't know a lot about Belmont, but we do know a lot about Auburn and Florida State. For the fans, this is going to be a very good group of matches, and we are just thrilled to be playing our first two rounds at home."
The Rebels will face Belmont in the first round Saturday, May 13 at 11:00 a.m. Auburn and Florida State will square off in the other match at 2 p.m. The final will be played at 1 p.m. on Sunday, May 14 with the winner advancing to the "Sweet Sixteen" in Palo Alto, Calif.
Ole Miss (20-5) is making its 13th consecutive NCAA appearance and 15th overall. The Rebels have advanced to the "Sweet Sixteen"10 times and the NCAA Final Four four times, including last year.
The Rebels captured the SEC Western Division Championship this season for the fifth straight year and finished second in the overall standings. They advanced to the SEC Tournament final for the second time in three years.
The team is led by All-SEC honorees Erling Tveit, Eric Claesson, Bram ten Berge and Juan Pablo Di Cesare, who have combined to help lead Ole Miss to its eighth 20-win campaign in the history of the program.
Tickets for the regional can be purchased by calling (662) 915-7167 or toll-free 1-888-732-8587. Single day tickets are $7 and a two-day pass is $10.
MORE QUOTES
Head Coach Billy Chadwick
On the crowd support at the Downtown Grill
"This was a carry over from the Georgia match (in Oxford), and it carried over to the Mississippi State match. It was great to have everyone here. It means so much to the team. The thing I loved the most, is that everyone in that room knew everyone on the team by name. That's what it's all about. It was great to have faculty members there, community leaders and the Chancellor."
Sophomore Erling Tveit
"We are happy to be hosting again. We had a little break, and now we have to get ready for next week. We have final exams, and we have to prepare for Belmont on Saturday. If we win that, we know we'll have a tough match on Sunday."
On being the No. 14 seed as opposed to the No. 3 seed last year
"It's fine with us. We are excited to be hosting. That was very important to us. If we are able to advance to the next round, we would face Texas, and I think that is a good match-up for us. All the teams in the NCAAs are pretty good."
On the season so far "It's been a good year. We hope to make it a great year with the biggest tournament of the year coming up. We know what it's all about. We made the Final Four last year, and we want to go back."
Junior Eric Claesson
On the importance of playing at home
"It's very important to host, but most of all, it's a lot of fun playing at home. It's awesome to play at home, especially when there are so many people out there supporting us. It's great to have fans screaming in the stands. It makes it a lot easier. We definitely love it."
On the team's play down the stretch
"We played our best matches as a team in the SEC Tournament, especially against Arkansas and Florida. Also, we were really close to beating Georgia. We were a little tired from the whole season, so hopefully we are rested up and ready for the upcoming (NCAA) Tournament."
