The University of Mississippi Athletics
Women's Tennis Preseason No. 21
1/5/2010 | Women's Tennis
OXFORD, Miss. - The Ole Miss women's tennis team begins the 2010 season right where they left off last year, at No. 21 in the preseason Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) National Rankings released Tuesday.
Ole Miss is also well-represented in the individual rankings led by the nation's No. 7 doubles team of Kristi Boxx and Karen Nijssen. The duo posted a 10-4 record in the fall including winning the ITA South Regional title and the ITA National Indoor consolation draw.
In singles, Boxx, a native of Grenada, Miss., is ranked No. 40. She finished with a 7-6 record in the fall after reaching the finals of the ITA South Regional and advancing to the second round at the ITA National Indoor.
Making their debut in the rankings, are sophomore Abby Guthrie (Auckland, New Zealand) and junior Connor Vogel (Germantown, Tenn.). Guthrie posted a 13-2 mark, while Vogel amassed a 14-4 record to lead the team.
"We are excited to have three players in the singles rankings and for Kristi and Karen to be ranked top 10 in doubles," head coach Mark Beyers said. "It shows that we had a very good fall. The team ranking is nice to get, but we still have to go out and prove that we are as good as No. 21 or better. We look forward to doing that beginning on January 26 against Southern Mississippi."
The Rebels are coming off their best season in several years, as they ended the 2009 campaign ranked No. 21 and advanced to the NCAA second round. They defeated five top 25 teams during the season and also reached the semifinals at the SEC Tournament.
Defending NCAA Champion Duke headlines the preseason rankings, followed by Northwestern, California, Georgia and Baylor in the top five. Notre Dame, Miami, Florida, Southern California and Georgia Tech round out the top 10. Eight teams from the SEC are ranked in the Top 25.
With the men at No. 10, Ole Miss is one of 12 schools to have both its men's and women's teams ranked in the preseason Top 25.
The regional rankings were also released this week, and Ole Miss dominated the Southern Regional with five singles players and all three doubles teams listed. Boxx is ranked No. 1 in the Southern Region, followed by Guthrie at No. 4, Nijssen at No. 6, Vogel at No. 7 and Gabriela Rangel at No. 19. Boxx and Nijssen are rated No. 1 in doubles, while Vogel and Rangel are third and Guthrie and Soledad Podlipnik are fourth.
The women's home opener on Jan. 26 against Southern Mississippi will be played at the Gillom Sports Center at 2 p.m. Admission is free to all home matches.
