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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Rebel Netters Among Nation's Best
9/8/2006 | Men's Tennis
OXFORD, Miss. -- Members of the Ole Miss men’s tennis team earned recognition Friday, as the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) announced its preseason singles and doubles national rankings Friday.
Junior Erling Tveit begins the season ranked No. 8 in the nation. He earned All-America honors in 2006, advancing to the semifinals at the NCAA Singles Championship. Tveit helped lead the Rebels to the NCAA “Sweet Sixteen” and their fifth consecutive SEC Western Division Championship.
An All-SEC selection in 2006, junior Bram ten Berge is ranked No. 97 in the nation. He posted a 30-14 record last year and was the deciding match in the Rebels’ win over Florida State, which clinched the team’s 11th NCAA round of 16 appearance.
Junior Robbye Poole, who is beginning his second season with the Rebels, earned a ranking of No. 118. He went 16-9 last year and also helped the Rebels win the doubles point in 19 of 26 matches. He posted several top wins in the summer, including two current players in the top 50 of the national rankings.
Ole Miss is the only school in the nation to have two teams in the top 25 of the preseason doubles rankings. Tveit, who ended last season among the top 10 in doubles, is ranked No. 18 with Fredrik Aarum, who returns after not playing last spring. No stranger to each other, the Norwegian pair teamed together in 2005 for a 14-8 record.
Senior Eric Claesson, who ended last year ranked in singles and doubles, is not competing this fall, and therefore was not eligible to receive a ranking. He will be back in action in the spring.
The first team rankings do not come out until January. To view the complete singles and doubles rankings go to www.itatennis.com and click on the link to rankings on the left side of the page. The Rebels, who return five of the top six from last year's SEC West Championship team, are in Napa Valley, Calif., this weekend competing in the Napa Valley Classsic.