Women's Tennis Back In NCAA Championship

OXFORD, Miss. The Ole Miss women’s tennis team had as one of their goals at the beginning of the year to return to the NCAA Championships, and that is exactly what they will be doing, as they heard their named called when the NCAA selections were announced Tuesday on ESPNews. 

The Rebels are headed to Atlanta, Ga., as the No. 2 seed in that regional, where they will face Denver in the first round May 8 at 1 p.m.  Georgia Tech and Jackson State will meet in the other half of the regional at 10 a.m. The winners will meet Saturday May 9 at 1 p.m. for the right to advance to the “Sweet Sixteen” in College Station, Texas.

“I am very proud of the team,” head coach Mark Beyers said.  “They’ve put in a lot of hard work, and to get back to the NCAAs and not just getting into the NCAAs, but to break into the top 25 (No. 21), means a lot to them.”

Ole Miss (14-9) is making its 12^th NCAA appearance and first since 2005.    The Rebels have advanced to the “Sweet Sixteen” seven times and the Elite Eight four times.

“I am very good friends with the coach at Georgia Tech (Bryan Shelton). Obviously they’ve got a great team, but we have to worry about Denver first.  I know that they are a very good team.  They’re national ranking was good.  We hope it’s going to be really hot and humid there.  That might be an advantage against a team like Denver, coming into the South and having to deal with the heat and humidity.

“Georgia Tech is a very talented team, well-coached. They’ve won the national championship recently, and they’ve been in the top 10 all year.  We hope to get a shot at them.”

The Rebels are enjoying their best season since 2005, moving up to No. 21 in the latest Campbell/ITA National Rankings after reaching the semifinals at the SEC Tournament last weekend.  Ole Miss downed LSU 4-1 and then knocked out the host, Arkansas, ranked No.14, 4-3 to advance to the semifinals.  The Rebels have defeated five teams ranked in the top 25 this year, including LSU twice.

“Obviously the SEC Tournament was fantastic,” Beyers said.  “Beating Arkansas in Fayetteville was a great win, and beating LSU in the round before was another top 25 win. We even had plenty of chances against Tennessee, so we’re playing as well as we have all year.  Doubles has been a strong point for us, we’ve won a lot of doubles points.  It’s been a team effort.  The girls at the top have done a great job, but the ones in the middle have won some critical matches for us as well as the bottom of the lineup.”

Ole Miss has been led by a mix of proven veterans and talented newcomers.  At the top of the lineup is Mississippi native Kristi Boxx, who in her first season, earned All-SEC first team honors while playing at No. 1 singles.   Sophomore Karen Nijssen earned All-SEC second team honors and teams with Boxx at No. 1 doubles.       

“Being a freshman and getting to go the NCAAs is a really good accomplishment,” Boxx said.  “We’ve done really well this year.  Comparing this year to last year, we’ve moved up a lot. It’s exciting.  We haven’t reached our potential yet, there’s a lot more that we can do.”

The SEC led then nation with 11 teams earning bids to the NCAA Championships.  Mississippi State was the only league team not to receive a berth.

The University of Mississippi Athletics

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