Men’s Tennis to Square Off Versus No. 2 Baylor in NCAA Sweet 16

			Monday - NCAA Sweet 16 No. 15 OLE MISS (13-10) vs. No. 2 BAYLOR (31-4) May 17, Noon CT, Orlando, Fla. USTA National Campus
Ole Miss NCAA Notes • Baylor NCAA Notes • Live Video • Live Scoring

ORLANDO, Fla. – No. 15 Ole Miss (13-10) faces No. 2 Baylor (31-4) in the NCAA Team Championships Sweet 16 at noon CT on Monday. All matches from the Sweet 16 through the finals are set to take place at the USTA National Campus.

The Rebels have reached the Sweet 16 for the 18th time in program history. Ole Miss last competed in the Sweet 16 in 2018 in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Ole Miss has made at least the Sweet 16 in 62 percent of all NCAA tournament appearances (18 out of 29 Championships).

If Ole Miss defeats No. 1 Oracle/ITA ranked Baylor, the Rebels will next face No. 7 TCU or Ohio State in the Elite Eight. Ole Miss is one of seven SEC teams to reach the Sweet 16, and there is a possibility of six SEC teams reaching the elite eight.

Tickets to attend matches are available for purchase here:
https://am.ticketmaster.com/ucf/tennis#/

Live streaming of the match will be exclusively through the TennisONE App.

Cruising to Orlando

Ole Miss advanced to the Sweet 16 after two dominant performances in the NCAA Team Championships first and second rounds. The Rebels competed as a host site during regionals and earned two lopsided victories in front of the fans in Oxford. Ole Miss earned back-to-back sweeps, defeating both Belmont on May 8 and Tulane on May 9. Ole Miss' 4-0 victory versus No. 22 nationally-ranked Tulane was the Rebels' first sweep versus a top 25 opponent since defeating No. 15 Florida, 4-0, in 2015.

Rebs to Watch

Ole Miss will look to get ahead early by taking the opening doubles point. The Rebels have been exceptional at No. 1 and No. 2 Doubles in the back half of the season. In their last 10 decisions, No. 1 Doubles Finn Reynolds and Tim Sandkaulen and No. 2 Doubles Brady Draheim and Simon Junk are a combined 16-4. No. 1 nationally ranked Reynolds and Sandkaulen extended their current win streak to nine by earning the clinching victory over Belmont.

No. 32 Sandkaulen has surged recently for the Rebels at No. 1 Singles. He has a three-match win streak after earning victories versus Vanderbilt, LSU and Belmont.

Ole Miss has taken the advantage over its opponents in the middle part of the lineup. Both No. 29 Nikola Slavic at No. 3 Singles and John Hallquist Lithén at No. 4 Singles have won seven of their last nine decisions.

Last Time Facing Baylor

The Rebels last faced the No. 9 ranked Bears in 2018 at home. Ole Miss defeated Baylor, 4-3, in a highly-contested match. Gustav Hansson clinched the win for the Rebels with a three-set win, 6-3, 5-7, 6-1 at No. 1 Singles. Sandkaulen also delivered a crucial performance for Ole Miss by clinching the doubles point with a 6-3 victory versus No. 2 Will Little and Johannes Schretter and by winning in singles, 6-4, 6-2 over No. 64 Bjoern Peterson.

The Rebels also upset No. 4 Baylor, 4-3, in 2016. G. Hansson clinched the deciding match at No. 3 singles. The victory stands as tied for the highest-ranked win for Ole Miss under head coach Toby Hansson (defeated No. 4 Stanford in the NCAA Championships second round in 2018).

Ole Miss leads the all-time series versus Baylor, 5-3.

Scouting the Bears

Baylor was awarded the No. 2 overall seed in the NCAA Team Championships after winning the Big 12 Championship. Baylor has earned 15 ranked wins this season including seven top-10 victories. The Bears reached the ITA National Indoor Finals, falling to No. 2 North Carolina.

The Bears advanced to the Sweet 16 after sweeping their first and second round opponents, Texas A&M Corpus Christi and Oregon.

Baylor's lineup is headlined by No. 11 ranked singles player Matias Soto and No. 21 ranked Adrian Boitan. The Bears feature the No. 9 ranked doubles team of Sven Lah and Constantin Frantzen. Soto ranks No. 75 in doubles alongside Nick Stachowiak. Baylor's No. 5 Singles player Charlie Broom leads the team with 22 singles victories and only three defeats.

For more information on Ole Miss Men's Tennis, follow the Rebels on Twitter at @OleMissMTennis, on Facebook at OleMissMTennis and on Instagram at OleMissMTennis, follow Coach Hansson on Twitter at @TennisToby.

RebelsCalendar

Players Mentioned

Brady Draheim

Simon Junk

Finn Reynolds

Tim Sandkaulen

Nikola Slavic

The University of Mississippi Athletics