The University of Mississippi Athletics
Karen Nijssen Named SEC Player Of The Week
4/7/2010 | Women's Tennis
OXFORD, Miss. - Ole Miss women's tennis player Karen Nijssen has been named the SEC Player of the Week the league office announced Wednesday.
Nijssen went 3-1 in singles and doubles to lead the Rebels to consecutive top 15 wins over No. 14 Tennessee and No. 13 Georgia. She helped hand the Bulldogs their first conference loss of the year. The win over Tennessee was the first for the Rebels since 2006, and the win against Georgia was the first since 1999.
Nijssen knocked off 67th-ranked Maria Sorbello of Tennessee in straight sets and then rallied to upset No. 29 Nadja Gilchrist of Georgia for a 5-3 record in the SEC. She also teamed with Kristi Boxx to post an 8-3 win over Georgia's 10th-ranked team of Chelsey Gullickson and Gilchrist. The win ended the duo's 17-match winning streak and gave them their first loss at No. 1 doubles. Boxx and Nijssen are now 6-2 in the SEC.
This is the second honor for the Rebels this year, as junior Connor Vogel earned SEC Player of the Week for the week of March 8.
The Rebels, now ranked No. 18 in the nation, will take their 11-4 overall record and 5-3 SEC mark on the road this weekend for matches at Auburn and Alabama.
"We just need to take care of business and make sure we win out in the SEC," head coach Mark Beyers said. "We've got three matches left, but all are on the road. People look at rankings and think oh you're ranked higher, but we saw what that means last weekend, when Georgia and Tennessee came in here. The girls know that we can't look at rankings, because these next three are all solid teams. If we don't play well, then we'll get beat. It's simple."
Fans can follow both matches with live scoring by going to www.OleMissSports.com and clicking on the link in the Rebel Hub.
