The University of Mississippi Athletics
Tennis Teams React to NCAA Tournament Selections
4/28/2015 | Men's Tennis, Blog
The Ole Miss men's and women's tennis team learned their postseason destinations, as the men's and women's NCAA Tournament fields were announced Tuesday.
The men, ranked No. 13 in the nation, are the No. 14 overall seed and will be hosting the first and second rounds, their 22nd consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance. The women, ranked No. 20, are making their seventh straight appearance and will travel to Coral Gables, Florida, for the first and second rounds.
The men drew Alabama State in the first round, and the winner will play the winner of the other first-round match between No. 20-ranked Columbia and Georgia Tech.
Led by All-SEC first team selections Nik Scholtz and Stefan Lindmark, the Rebels finished 17-8 overall and 8-4 in SEC play, tied for fourth place in the league standings. They advanced to the semifinals of the SEC Tournament, where they fell to No. 7-ranked Georgia.
"The guys have been extremely good at handling being the favorite in some matches and also being the underdog in a couple of matches," head coach Toby Hansson said. "We have a group of guys who have been taking care of business."
Alabama State (SWAC) and Columbia (Ivy) earned the automatic bid in their respective leagues, while Georgia Tech made a run to the semifinals of the ACC Tournament to receive an at-large bid. Last year, Columbia won their first two NCAA Tournament matches in program history and advanced to the NCAA Final 16.
"When you get to this part of the season, there's not a bad team involved, so it doesn't matter who you are playing," Scholtz said. "You have to be ready and you have to be prepared. We know that, and for the younger guys, I'll make sure they know that. We're going to take it one match at a time and make sure that we can control what we control, which is to compete to the best of our abilities."
The women drew Denver in the first round, and the winner will face the winner of No. 15 seed Miami (FL) and North Florida in the second round.
Led by senior Julia Jones, the No. 9 player in the nation, the Rebels finished 15-10 overall and 5-8 in SEC play, ninth place in the league standings. They advanced to the quarterfinals of the SEC Tournament, where they fell to No. 5-ranked Florida.
"From a talent standpoint, this team has probably been the best team that I have had," said 14th-year head coach Mark Beyers. "Early on, we had to learn how to win some close matches, and when we finally did that, we started to hit our stride."
The Hurricanes, ranked No. 15 in the nation, finished 16-6 overall and 12-2 in ACC play, tied for second place in the league standings. They were upset by Florida State in the quarterfinals of the ACC Tournament. Denver (Summit) and North Florida (Atlantic Sun) earned automatic bids out of their respective leagues.
"Miami has a great team," Beyers said. "They're ranked 15th in the country, but we have a great team, too. We have played a lot of good teams playing in the SEC throughout the year. I don't think our kids are going to be intimidated, and we're looking forward to the challenge."
Players Mentioned
