Men's Tennis To Host ITA Kick-Off Weekend Again

OXFORD, Miss. The 2009 season is barely in the books and already the SEC Champion Ole Miss men’s tennis team is looking toward next year’s schedule. For the second year in a row, the Rebels were selected as a host site for the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Kick-Off Weekend, it was announced Wednesday.

In a new format which began this past year, the top 60 teams in the nation will compete for the available 15 final round spots at the National Team Indoor Championship, to be held at the Boars Head Tennis Club, Feb. 12-15.  Virginia earned an automatic invitation to the Final 16 since it will be the host for the 2010 championship.

The top 15 nationally-ranked teams were chosen as host sites. Ole Miss will host Indiana, Columbia and Arkansas. First round matches will be played Saturday, Jan. 30, and second round matches will be played Sunday, Jan. 31. All matches will be held at the Gillom Sports Center.

First round winners and losers face each other in the second round. The winners at each site will advance to the 2010 ITA National Team Indoor Championships Final 16.

The other 14 host sites include Alabama, Baylor, Florida, Florida State, Georgia, Kentucky, Illinois, Ohio State, Texas, Texas A&M, UCLA, Southern California, Tennessee, Stanford.

More than 1,000 fans packed the Gillom Sports Center for this year’s ITA Kick-Off Weekend as the Rebels defeated Kentucky and Wake Forest to participate in the National Team Indoor Final 16 for the 16^th straight year.

In addition to winning the SEC regular season title this past year, the Rebels advanced to the NCAA Elite Eight, captured the SEC Tournament Championship, won their eighth consecutive SEC West title and ended the year ranked No. 4 in the nation.

The Rebels will return six of their top eight from 2009 next year, including NCAA Champion Devin Britton.

The University of Mississippi Athletics

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