The University of Mississippi Athletics
Women's Tennis Earns Ninth Consecutive NCAA Bid
5/2/2017 | Women's Tennis
NCAA Bracket
OXFORD, Miss. â€" For the ninth consecutive year, the Ole Miss women's tennis team will be playing tennis in May, as the NCAA announced the 64-team field Tuesday.
The Rebels earned the No. 2 seed in the North Carolina regional and will face William & Mary in the first round, May 13 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. North Carolina earned the No. 2 overall seed and will meet Furman in the first round. The winners will face each other on May 14 for a berth in the NCAA Sweet Sixteen in Athens, Georgia.
Notables…
• The Rebels are making their 20th overall NCAA appearance and ninth straight since 2009.
• This marks the 11th overall NCAA appearance under head coach Mark Beyers.
• William & Mary (14-10) won the Colonial Athletic Association Championship to earn the automatic bid.
• Ole Miss leads the all-time series with the Tribe 9-6 have won two of the three neutral site meetings.
• This will be the first meeting in the NCAA Tournament and the fourth meeting in the last five years.
• The Rebels won the last meeting, 5-2, at home in 2015.
• Ole Miss is led by junior All-American Arianne Hartono, who is ranked No. 27 in singles and No. 21 in doubles with freshman Alexa Bortles. Hartono was recently named to the All-SEC First Team.
Quoting head coach Mark Beyers…
"Last year we dealt with injuries and then had another injury the day before our first match, so we didn't get a chance to show our best tennis. We are excited to get a do-over in Chapel Hill. It's a tough regional, obviously with North Carolina being a great team, William & Mary won their conference. We've played them many times before; they have a well-coached team. It's going to be a tough assignment, but that's why it's the NCAA Tournament. There are no easy matches."
On heading back to North Carolina…
"North Carolina did a great job hosting last year. Their facilities and hospitality were fantastic, so from that standpoint, we are looking forward to going back there. Like I said, the biggest thing we are excited about, is showing what we can do and having a better NCAA Tournament."
Junior Natalie Suk…
"This is an exciting time of year, to be making our ninth straight NCAA appearance. We are happy to go back to Chapel Hill and look forward to playing better than we did last year. Both William & Mary and North Carolina are great teams, and hopefully we can play well and win both."
For more information on Ole Miss Women's Tennis, follow the Rebels on Twitter @OleMissWTennis, on Facebook at OleMissWTennis and on Instagram at OleMissWTennis. Also follow Coach Beyers on Twitter, @MarkBeyers.
