The University of Mississippi Athletics
Women's Tennis Dominates ITA Regional Awards
5/12/2010 | Women's Tennis
OXFORD, Miss. - The honors keep coming in for the Ole Miss women's tennis team, as they dominated the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Southern Regional Awards announced Wednesday.
Head coach Mark Beyers was named the Southern Regional Coach of the Year, Jason Ontog was named the Assistant Coach of the Year and sophomore Kristi Boxx was named the Player to Watch.
"I am honored to win the coach of the year award, because there are such great coaches in this region. But it's not about me, it's about the team and what we want to accomplish," Beyers said. These awards are by products of us achieving our goals of winning the SEC West and competing for the NCAA title."
Beyers much preferred to talk about his assistant saying, "He's one of the best if not the best coaches in the country. He's a huge part of why we've been able to raise the level of our team and achieve the things that we have accomplished."
The list of achievements for the Rebels includes their first ever outright SEC West title, their best finish (2nd) in the SEC since 1999 and their best league record (8-3) since 2000. They are currently ranked No. 17 in the nation.
Boxx has played a major role in the resurgence of the program the last two years. She earned first team All-SEC honors for the second year in a row and was named to the SEC All-Tournament Team. She earned her second consecutive NCAA bid in singles and doubles.
"Kristi had an up and down year," but she's a great player who has carried us through a lot of matches last year and this year," Beyers said. "This is a great region with a lot of talented players, so it's a very well-deserved honor."
The Rebels are in Atlanta, Ga., for the first and second rounds of the NCAA Championships. They will face UC Irvine in the first round Friday at 9 a.m. CT.
