The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss Kicks Off 2010-11 Athletics Season
8/19/2010 | Athletics
Aug. 19, 2010
OXFORD, Miss. - Ole Miss will kick off its 2010-11 athletics campaign at 7 p.m. on Friday when the Rebel soccer team opens the season against Middle Tennessee at the Ole Miss Soccer Stadium.
This marks the 116th season of Ole Miss athletics which began when the Rebels fielded the state's first football team in 1893. It is also the 67th-straight year of Ole Miss athletics, as the University did not field athletics teams in 1897 due to a yellow fever outbreak and in 1943 due to World War II.
Other sports beginning their season in the weeks to come include volleyball on Aug. 27 against Texas-San Antonio, cross country on Sept. 3 at the Arkansas Tech Twilight Run, football on Sept. 4 against Jacksonville State, women's tennis on Sept. 10 at the SEC Coaches' Classic, men's golf on Sept. 10 at the Carpet Capital Collegiate and women's golf on Sept. 12 at the Cougar Classic.
Helping launch the Rebels' 2010-11 sports campaign will be Meet The Rebels Day this Saturday. Fans will be introduced to the football, soccer and volleyball squads and student-athletes will be signing autographs. Activities begin with a volleyball scrimmage at 10 a.m. at the Gillom Sports Center, followed by fan festivities at noon at the Indoor Practice Facility and conclude with a football scrimmage in Vaught-Hemingway Stadium.
The Rebels welcome six new coaches into the fold this year including soccer head coach Matt Mott. Also joining Mott in Oxford are assistant coaches Meredith Crane (track and field) Kevin Creech (softball), Becky Fletcher (soccer), Janell Howland (women's golf), Jack O'Keefe (men's golf), Dave Rader (football), Rob Thompson (soccer) and Shannon Wells (volleyball).
Ole Miss is looking to build upon its success last year that saw a total of 11 Rebel squads advance to postseasonplay, with eight teams earning NCAA Championship bids. Those were baseball, men's and women's golf, soccer, men's and women's tennis and men's and women's track and field.
Some of the most memorable moments from the past season include the Rebels defending their Cotton Bowl trophy with a second straight victory in the AT&T Cotton Bowl Classic, this time over Oklahoma State; the men's basketball team securing another SEC Western Division title; All-American Drew Pomeranz dialing it up time and again to help the Diamond Rebels to their eighth straight NCAA Regional bid and Barnabas Kirui winning the SEC Cross Country Championships here in Oxford, just to name a few.
In Southeastern Conference competition, Ole Miss stood out in the crowd. In men's sports, the Rebels ranked first among SEC Western Division teams and second overall in the annual SEC All-Sports rankings conducted by the New York Times Regional Newspaper Group. Among all sports, the Rebels finished sixth overall in the trophy standings and third among SEC West schools.
Three Ole Miss teams captured SEC West crowns in 2009-10: Andy Kennedy's men's basketball team, Billy Chadwick's men's tennis team and Mark Beyers' women's tennis squad.