Ole Miss Puts Streak On The Line In Mississippi Cup

OXFORD, Miss. The No. 9 nationally ranked Ole Miss men’s tennis team will put its 21-match win streak against arch-rival Mississippi State on the line Thursday, when the two teams battle in the annual River Hills Mississippi Cup in Jackson.  The match will begin at 5 p.m. at the River Hills Club.

“We always look forward to this match, and this year it will be an especially tough match,” head coach Billy Chadwick said.   “Mississippi State (1-1) is very much improved. We’ve got four freshmen, and it’s going to be a big test for them.  We get to play in front of a lot of people that this is their only collegiate match that they get to see.  This is a great way to showcase two great teams in Mississippi.”

The Rebels (3-0) are coming off a successful weekend of hosting the first and second rounds of the ITA National Team Indoor in which they edged Kentucky 4-3 and defeated Wake Forest 4-1 to move on to the Final 16 in Chicago, Feb. 13-16.

“When I look around the country, we really did a great job in advancing to the Final 16,” Chadwick said.   “We by far had the toughest region, as far as the teams that were trying to move on to Chicago.  We feel very fortunate to have made it through that, and we are a better team today because of it.”

All four freshmen played in the tournament, and all contributed to the wins.  Otto Sauer went 3-0 in singles and doubles, including clinching the win against Kentucky.  Marcel Thiemann and Christoph Thiemann clinched the doubles point against Wake Forest, and Devin Britton teamed up with Sauer for two wins in doubles.

“Devin made a lot of improvement from his first match to his second,” Chadwick noted.  “You saw the German twins grow when they squeaked out that tiebreaker (against Wake Forest) to clinch the doubles point for us.  The freshman that really grew before our eyes was Otto. He had a great tournament.”

Thursday’s match marks a homecoming for Britton, who grew up in the Jackson area, but trained at the elite Nick Bollettieri Academy in Florida for the last three and a half years.

The Rebels have won nine straight Mississippi Cups, including last year’s 4-0 victory. 

“A streak like this helps, because you go into the match expecting to beat them,” Chadwick said.   “By the same token, the fans expect us to win too.  A lot of times, they don’t realize how good Mississippi State is. Several times in the streak, we have been very fortunate (to win).”

The University of Mississippi Athletics

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