The University of Mississippi Athletics
Tennis Teams Receive Chancellor's Cup
2/25/2010 | Athletics
OXFORD, Miss. - The Ole Miss men's and women's tennis teams received the Chancellor's Cup during halftime ceremonies honoring student-athlete's academic achievements at the Rebel basketball game Wednesday night.
The Chancellor's Cup is awarded to the men's and women's varsity teams with the highest cumulative grade point average among all sports at Ole Miss.
Since its inception, no other men's team has ever won the Chancellor's Cup. The men's tennis team is the recipient of the men's Chancellor's Cup for the seventh year in a row.
"This team epitomizes the meaning of the word student-athlete," head coach Billy Chadwick said. "Winning the SEC Championship and having the highest GPA is an outstanding achievement."
In 2009, the Rebels won the overall SEC Championship, the SEC Tournament Championship, advanced to the NCAA Elite Eight and ended the year ranked No. 4 in the nation. Mississippi native Devin Britton became the youngest NCAA Singles Champion in the history of men's tennis, and Bram ten Berge was named the Boyd McWhorter SEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year.
The women's tennis team earned the Chancellor's Cup for the second time in three years.
"The girls have done a great job on the court, and then to do that in the classroom at the same level is really impressive," head coach Mark Beyers said. "It's time consuming to be a student-athlete in the SEC. I am really proud of the girls. It's amazing the consistency that we've had on the academic side. To have the highest GPA among all sports at Ole Miss is awesome. There are a lot of good student-athletes here, not just in tennis."
The women enjoyed a fine season in 2009, earning a final national ranking of No. 21 after advancing to the NCAA second round and the SEC Tournament semifinals. Off the court, the Rebels earned the ITA All-Academic Team Award for the 13th consecutive year.
Also honored at halftime were more than 240 student-athletes who made the University's Chancellor's Honor Roll (3.75-4.00 semester GPA), Dean's Honor Roll (3.50-3.74) or the UMAA honor roll (3.00 or higher) during the 2009 calendar year.
