The University of Mississippi Athletics
No. 19 Rebels Begin Season in Atlanta
1/14/2016 | Men's Tennis
OXFORD, Miss. - After a week of practice, it's time for the No. 19 Ole Miss men's tennis team to get the 2016 season started. They will do so in Atlanta at the MLK Invitational hosted by Georgia Tech.
Besides Georgia Tech, the Rebels will face top competition from No. 2 Oklahoma and No. 7 Georgia.
The Field…
Oklahoma finished as the runner-up in each of the last two seasons and has won four straight Big 12 titles. The Sooners return five of six starters in singles from 2015, including the reigning Big 12 and National Player of the Year, Axel Alvarez. Georgia was picked to win the 2016 SEC title by the league's head coaches. The Bulldogs return three seniors as well as the 2015 SEC Freshman of the Year in Wayne Montgomery, who is ranked No. 20 in the preseason singles rankings. Georgia Tech returns five of six starters from last year, including sophomore Christopher Eubanks, who is ranked No. 6 in singles.
Schedule of Play…
The Rebels kick off play Friday at 3 p.m. CT vs. Georgia Tech and continue with Georgia on Saturday at 9 a.m. CT, before concluding the tournament Sunday against Oklahoma at 9 a.m. CT. This is not a team event, and results will only count towards individual records.
Quoting Head Coach Toby Hansson…
"We are very excited to kick off the season after a nice break for the holidays. All the guys spent time on their own working to get ready for the spring and then we have had some great practices this week. We are looking forward to facing top competition this weekend and measuring ourselves against some of the best players in the nation."
Rebels Return Six…
Ole Miss returns six players from the 2015 team, including All-SEC honorees Stefan Lindmark and Gustav Hansson, who helped lead the Rebels to a top four finish in the SEC for the 17th time, their 22nd straight NCAA appearance and a final ranking of No. 17 nationally. Lindmark begins the spring ranked No. 36 in singles and No. 31 in doubles with freshman Filip Kraljevic. Other returnees include juniors Vinod Gowda and Ricardo Jorge and sophomores Zvonimir Babic and Grey Hamilton. Redshirt freshman Robert Mounger is in his first year of competing. Fabian Fallert joins Kraljevic as the two talented newcomers to the team.
Fourth in SEC…
The Rebels were picked fourth in the 2016 SEC Coaches' Preseason Poll announced Wednesday by the league office. Defending co-champion Georgia was picked as the overall champion followed by Florida, Texas A&M, Ole Miss and LSU rounding out the top five. The preseason poll is voted on by the men's tennis head coach at each institution and is based on a 13-12-11-10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 vote.
Home Opener…
Following this weekend's tournament, the Rebels will return home to host Troy for their first dual match Jan. 19 at 4 p.m.
For more information on Ole Miss Men's Tennis, follow the Rebels on Twitter @OleMissMTennis, on Facebook at OleMissMTennis and on Instagram at OleMissMTennis, follow Coach Hansson on Twitter at @TennisToby.
