The University of Mississippi Athletics
Rebels Hope Different Road Leads To National Title
5/6/2009 | Men's Tennis
By Kim Ling
Associate Athletics Media Relations Director
It’s been said “The harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph.” For the No. 2 nationally ranked Ole Miss men’s tennis team, its path to a national championship became a little more difficult a week ago, when it was announced that the Rebels would have to travel to
Ole Miss had hosted a regional eight straight years and assumed this year would be no different. The Rebels won the SEC regular season going 11-0. The team went into the SEC Tournament as the top seed and defeated LSU, No. 10 Florida and No. 5 Tennessee to successfully defend its title. With a No. 2 national ranking (a fraction of a point from the top spot), the thought of not hosting a regional never entered the minds of the players or coaches.
Hotel rooms were reserved and parents had made plans to travel across the ocean to see their sons graduate and play tennis. That is until the NCAA sent the Rebels to
While it’s difficult for fans to get over the disappointment of not hosting, the team has moved on.
“The team has accepted the challenge, and now we have to go down to LSU and go to work,” said this year’s SEC Coach of the Year, Billy Chadwick. “It is a tough assignment, but the guys are ready for it.”
One of the keys to this season has been the leadership provided by the upperclassmen.
“Of course we’re disappointed that we didn’t get to host, but there is nothing we can do about it now,” said junior Kalle Norberg, the only player in the SEC to go undefeated this season. We just have to focus on going down there and beating LSU again.”
His teammate and half of the nation’s No. 1 ranked doubles team, Jonas Berg, said it’s all about advancing.
“You have to put your mind on it that you’re going to play down at LSU instead of here. It’s going to be tougher down there, but we’re ready for it. It’s always tougher to play SEC matches away, even though this is not an SEC match. But it might be an SEC team. We’re definitely ready for it. We just want to be through to the final 16.”
The Rebels have faced tough situations plenty of times this year and prevailed. A team doesn’t go undefeated in the SEC without determination and grit when there are four league teams among the nation’s top 10 and seven in the top 20.
One of the Rebels’ six SEC road wins came in
“We played LSU there this year, and the SEC Tournament was there two years ago. We’ve played on the courts, and we know how it is down there. So that helps a little bit,” Norberg said.
There has been some talk of a lot of fans making the trip to
“That would be good, because it’s been great at home this year. I don’t know if we would have beaten
Another huge key to the Rebels’ success this season has been the play of the four freshmen.
Britton described the atmosphere surrounding that last match at the SEC Tournament as intense and exciting. He said he couldn’t wait to go back next year. When he learned of the team’s destination this week, while it was a shock, he said “It’s just a road block. We’ll get through, and we’ll probably come out stronger because of it. We’re going to go down to
With that kind of attitude, the Rebels are poised to handle whatever path they travel to reach the ultimate goal, a national championship.
