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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Game, Set, Match on 2016 Season
6/9/2016 | Men's Tennis
OXFORD, Miss. â€" With a lineup consisting of one senior, one junior and the rest freshmen and sophomores, the Ole Miss men's tennis team earned its 23rd straight NCAA appearance in 2016, while achieving several individual accomplishments as well.
"It was an up and down season, but I am extremely excited about the future," said head coach Toby Hansson, who just completed his second year at the helm of the program.
2016 NOTEBOOK
California Dreamin'…
Ole Miss (16-11) earned its 25th overall and 23rd consecutive NCAA bid and traveled to Berkeley, California for the first and second rounds. The Rebels defeated Denver 4-3 in the first round before dropping a 4-0 decision to California, who ended up reaching the semifinals. With their 23rd-straight NCAA bid, the Rebels own the fifth longest consecutive NCAA appearance streak.
All-American Swede…
The All-American wall at the Palmer/Salloum Tennis Center will need to be updated, as sophomore Gustav Hansson became the 29th All-American in the history of the program. Hansson (Karlskrona, Sweden) added his name to the list of Rebel greats, reaching the NCAA round of 16 in singles and finishing with a 27-11 overall record. With Hansson's honor, the Rebels are tied for second with the most All-America selections (21) in the last decade.
All-SEC times two…
Gustav Hansson and senior Stefan Lindmark earned All-SEC honors. Hansson made the first team and Lindmark earned second team honors. It marked the second straight year for both players to earn the recognition. With his selection to the All-SEC second team last year, Hansson became the fourth player in program history to earn All-SEC honors in each of his first two years. Hansson tied for the second best record in the league at 9-3.
Watch out for Hansson…
Gustav Hansson earned the ITA Southern Region Player to Watch Award. This award recognizes a player who is expected to be one of the top returning players next year and possibly win the ITA Regional Championship event, but has not yet won this event or any other ITA national event. Hansson became the fourth Rebel to earn the regional player to watch award and the first since three-time All-American Marcel Thiemann received the honor in 2011.
National/Regional rankings…
Several Rebels earned ITA national and regional rankings. Gustav Hansson went from unranked to a final national ranking of No. 33 in singles. He also finished the year ranked No. 2 in the Southern Region behind Tulane senior Dominik Koepfer, which means he will be the top returning player in the region next year. Stefan Lindmark ended his career ranked No. 60 in singles in the nation. In the doubles, Filip Kraljevic and Zvonimir Babic earned a final ranking of No. 25 in the nation.
Off the court success…
Success didn't end on the courts, as the Rebels posted a team cumulative grade point average of 3.25 for the year. Four players made the Chancellor's Honor Roll or Dean's List in the spring, and sophomore Zvonimir Babic posted a perfect 4.0 GPA for the third semester. Along with all his on court success, Gustav Hansson made the Dean's List along with sophomore Grey Hamilton. More academic honors are forthcoming with the announcements of the SEC Academic Honor Roll and the ITA academic awards next month.
Back to the future…
The Rebels will welcome back seven players from the 2016 squad in 2017, including their top two doubles teams of Filip Kraljevic and Zvonimir Babic and Fabian Fallert and Grey Hamilton and two of the top three players in the singles lineup in All-American Gustav Hansson and Kraljevic. Junior Ricardo Jorge and redshirt freshman Robert Mounger round out the list of returning players.
Rebels add German and European Champion…
Joining the returning players for next year will be German and European Champion Tim Sandkaulen. Sandkaulen (Monchengladbach) achieved a career-high ITF World Junior Ranking of No. 33 and participated in all four junior grand slams. Sandkaulen reached the doubles semifinals and the second round of singles at the 2015 French Open. In addition, Sandkaulen won the European Doubles Championship and the German U-18 Singles Championship in 2015.
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
