Ole Miss Set To Face Marist In NCAA First Round

OXFORD, Miss. The No. 4 nationally-ranked Ole Miss men’s tennis team is led by four seniors, who have won an overall SEC Championship, four straight SEC West titles, and the SEC Tournament Championship three weeks ago.   The only thing missing from that impressive resume’ is a National Championship. 

The quest for a national title begins Saturday at home, where the Rebels are hosting an NCAA Regional for the eighth year in a row.  Ole Miss will face the Marist Red Foxes at 11 a.m. at the Palmer/Salloum Tennis Center.

Indiana and Vanderbilt will meet at 2 p.m., Saturday in the other match. The final will be Sunday at Noon, with the winner advancing to the NCAA Final 16 in Tulsa, Okla., May 16-20.

“They (Marist) usually do a good job of winning their conference, and we’re excited about having a representative from as far away as New York,” head coach Billy Chadwick said.  “On the other side of the draw you’ve got Vanderbilt and Indiana, and those are two very good teams. Of course we know Vanderbilt like the back of our hands. Vanderbilt is a tough team.  Indiana’s best win is against Michigan, who is a top-15 team in the country, so we know they can play.”

Ole Miss (21-4) is making its 17^th overall NCAA appearance and 15^th in a row. The Rebels have advanced to the “Sweet Sixteen” 13 times, the Elite Eight seven times, the Final Four four times and the final in 1995.

This season the Rebels captured the program’s second ever SEC Tournament Championship, their seventh straight SEC West title, finished runner-up in the overall conference standings, and ended the regular season ranked No. 4 in the nation.

The team has been led this season by seniors Erling Tveit, Matthias Wellermann, Robbye Poole and Jakob Klaeson. All four want to make some noise in the NCAA Championships.

“We are all very focused,” said Tveit, a two-time All-American in both singles and doubles. It’s good that Georgia is not as good as they have been the past two years.  We felt like they were unbeatable (the past two years). It’s open this year. Everybody can win it (national championship).  It makes us look at it a little different.”

From top to bottom the Rebel lineup is strong.  Junior Jonas Berg comes in as one of the hottest players in the country.  The SEC Tournament MVP has won 12 in a row, including all of his matches at the SECs.  Berg, who makes up half of the nation’s No. 5 ranked doubles tandem (with Tveit), says the team is confident they can make a run.

“We played Ohio State close, and feel we should have won that match,” he said.  “Against Virginia we had a good chance.  We lost the doubles and then we won five of the first sets in singles.  We definitely have a good chance of beating them, but it will be tough. They are the favorites.  (After winning the SEC Tournament) we are confident, and we think we have a good chance to do well in the NCAA Tournament.  Everybody is real excited.”

Sophomore Kalle Norberg also won all his matches at the SEC Tournament and has been a rock for the Rebels in the bottom half of the lineup the last two years.  Klaeson is always at his best in the NCAA Championships as evidenced by his 10-1 record.  Freshman Tucker Vorster, who came on board in January, has fit in nicely and teams with Klaeson for an 8-1 record at No.3 doubles.  Junior Bram ten Berge who missed the last nine matches with an injured foot is healthy and ready to go when called upon.

Marist (14-4) earned the automatic bid from the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) and is making its sixth NCAA appearance.  Indiana (16-9) earned an at-large bid from the Big Ten Conference.  The Hoosiers are making their sixth trip to the NCAAs and first since 2001.  Vanderbilt (13-9) is making its seventh NCAA appearance in the last eight years.  The Commodores are ranked No. 29 in the nation. 

The tennis center is a tough place to play for opponents, especially when packed.  Ole Miss is among the nation’s attendance leaders. After the month of March, the Rebels were ranked 10^th in total attendance and sixth in average attendance in the ITA attendance race. They could very well move up in the next standings, with over 1,500 attending the team’s final three regular season home matches.

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. Student tickets are $5.      For those not able to attend the matches, live scoring for all matches will be available at www.OleMissSports.com.  Click on the NCAA Championships logo to access the tournament page.

NCAA OXFORD REGIONAL SCHEDULE

Saturday

Ole Miss vs. Marist                               11 a.m.

Vanderbilt vs. Indiana                             2 p.m.

Sunday

Match 1 winner vs. Match 2 winner   Noon

The University of Mississippi Athletics

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