Chadwick Announces 2006-07 Men's Tennis Schedule

                Expectations are high for the Ole Miss men’s tennis team in 2006-07, with five of the top six returning from last year’s NCAA “Sweet Sixteen” team. 

                The Rebels will open the fall season at the prestigious Napa Valley Classic in Napa Valley, Calif.  Members of the team will also participate in the year’s first major collegiate national championship, the ITA Polo Ralph Lauren All-American Championships, which will be held Sept. 30-Oct. 8 in Tulsa, Okla. 

                The ITA Southeast Regional Championships will once again take place in Lexington, Ky., Oct. 20-23.  The second national championship tournament (ITA National Indoors) of the year takes place Nov. 2-5 in Columbus, Ohio. 

                Ole Miss kicks off the spring season Jan. 19-22 with the SEC Indoor Championships in New Orleans, La.    The Rebels have enjoyed huge success at the SEC Indoor Championships, boasting a singles or doubles finalist nine consecutive years from 1993-2001, including five SEC Champions.

                Following the SEC Indoor, the Rebels will have five straight home matches to open the dual match season, beginning with Murray State on Jan. 24. 

                After hosting UAB on Feb. 4, the Rebels will take to the courts in Jackson, Miss., Feb. 8, for the annual Mississippi Cup against Mississippi State.  The Rebels will try to win their eighth straight cup and 18^th consecutive win in the overall series.

                The Rebels should be in great position to earn their 14th straight invitation to the USTA/ITA National Team Indoor Feb. 16-19, 2007.  The prestigious tournament makes a return to Chicago, where the Rebels reached the semifinals in 2005.   The Rebels, who own the third-longest consecutive appearance streak in the nation behind perennial national powers UCLA and Duke, have reached the semifinals two of the last three years.

                The SEC starts off with a bang for the second straight year, as Florida comes to town on March 2, followed by South Carolina on March 4.  The Rebels defeated the Gators twice last year - once at the USTA National Team Indoor and in the semifinals of the SEC Tournament.

                The first conference road trip includes matches at SEC West rivals Alabama and Auburn March 9 and 11.  Ole Miss has won the West five consecutive years since the league split into divisions in 2002 and boasts an impressive 24-1 record against division foes. 

                Following spring break, the Rebels open a four-match homestand, beginning with Vanderbilt and Kentucky the weekend of March 23 and concluding with LSU and Arkansas the weekend of March 30.        

                A tough stretch of road matches will conclude the regular season for the Rebels, including a much-anticipated re-match with 2006 national runner-up Georgia on April 8 in Athens.                    

                “As always the SEC is shaping up to be the strongest conference in the country,” said Billy Chadwick, a 2006 Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame inductee.  “It will not surprise me if we have five teams in the top 10.”

                The SEC Tournament will be held April 19-22 in Baton Rouge, La.  The first and second rounds of the NCAA Championships will be May 11-13 at various sites across the country.  The 2007 season will mark the second year that the Men’s and Women’s NCAA Championships will be played at the same site.  This year’s championships return to Athens, Ga., for the first time since 2003.

                Leading the way for the Rebels will be returning All-Americans Erling Tveit, a 2006 NCAA singles semifinalist, and Eric Claesson.  All-SEC honoree Bram ten Berge, Robbye Poole and Jakob Klaeson round out a solid corps of returning players from last year’s SEC West champion team.   Chris Rea, who missed the spring due to injury, is back and ready to go, as is Ahmed El Tabakh, who played in three matches last year.  German standout Matthias Wellermann will kick off his Rebel career in the spring.

The University of Mississippi Athletics

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