The University of Mississippi Athletics
No. 17 Rebels Ready for ITA Kick-Off
1/22/2016 | Men's Tennis
OXFORD, Miss. - After opening the season with a 6-1 win at home against Troy, the No. 17 ranked Ole Miss men's tennis team will get the opportunity this weekend to pick up a couple of signature wins right out of the gate as they take part in the ITA Kick-Off in Austin, Texas.
The Rebels will face No. 15 ranked Texas Tech in the first round Saturday at 1 p.m. at the Weller Indoor Tennis Center. Host Texas, ranked No. 20, will meet No. 21 Florida in the other match. The winners will meet Sunday at 1 p.m. for the right to advance to the ITA National Team Indoor in February. The first round losers will play in consolation at 10 a.m., Sunday.
About the ITA Kick-Off…
A total of 60 teams are competing for a place in the National Team Indoor Championships in Charlottesville, Virginia Feb. 12-15. Host Virginia receives an automatic bid, leaving 15 spots available for each regional winner to complete the 16-team field. The National Indoor began in 1973 and Ole Miss has played in it 19 times.
Second Toughest Field…
The four teams in Austin are separated by only six spots in this week's Oracle/ITA rankings and own an average ITA ranking of 18.25, which ranks second only behind the group playing at Columbia.
Troy Rewind…
Temperatures hovered in the high 20s to low 30s for much of the day Tuesday, but inside at the Gillom Sports Center, Rebels were on fire from the start and never let up, downing Troy 6-1 to begin the season 1-0.
Scouting Texas Tech…
Texas Tech enters the ITA Kick-Off with a 6-0 record after wins last weekend against New Mexico, Arizona and Pacific. The Red Raiders are led by senior All-American Felipe Soares, who is ranked No. 8 in singles and No. 2 in the nation in doubles with Hugo Dojas. The pair finished as the runner-up in the NCAA Championships last year.
New No. 1…
Senior Stefan Lindmark did fine in just his third ever match at No. 1 for the Rebels, and he will get plenty of chances to pad his resume this weekend. Lindmark, ranked No. 36 in singles, will face the No. 8 ranked player in the Rebels opening match against Texas Tech.
Remembering Last Year's ITA Kick-Off…
Last year Ole Miss was the No. 4 seed in the four-team pod in Gainesville and rallied to knock off then No. 13 Florida and South Carolina to advance to the National Team Indoor for the 19th time.
Quoting Head Coach Toby Hansson…
"They have a good No. 1 doubles team and a deep squad, but so do we. It's going to be a very competitive match, and we are looking forward to it. This is one of the toughest regions, with any one of the teams capable of advancing to the National Team Indoor."
Freshman Filip Kraljevic on the Big Weekend…
"The most important thing is that we play our best. If we are all competing hard we have a really good team and I believe we can beat anybody. We have good doubles teams now and a solid lineup in singles. I feel like if we win the doubles point we'll have a great chance to win. We've prepared well for this moment, and we're ready to go."
Live Scoring…
Fans can follow the action with live scoring by going to OleMissSports.com and clicking on the link in the calendar.
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.
Players Mentioned
