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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss
GT Invitational
Men’s Tennis Travels to Georgia Tech Invitational for Fall Season Finale
11/3/2022 | Men's Tennis
Four Rebels Make the Trip to Atlanta for Three-Day Tournament
ATLANTA, Ga. – Ole Miss men's tennis will be sending four Rebels to Atlanta for the team's fall season finale, with the Rebels set to compete in the Georgia Tech Invitational set to run Nov. 4-6.
A total of seven teams will be in attendance at the Ken Byers Tennis Complex, including the Ole Miss quartet of Nikola Slavic, Lukas Engelhardt, Walker Stearns and Gordon Whitwell.
TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
Friday, November 4 – One Round of Singles and Doubles (Beginning at 9 a.m. CT)
Saturday, November 5 – One Round of Singles and Doubles (Beginning at 9 a.m. CT)
Sunday, November 6 – One Round of Singles and Doubles (Beginning at 8 a.m. CT)
THE REBELS
Nikola Slavic (Sr.*) – Stockholm, Sweden
- Finished 2021-22 with a singles record of 22-13 and doubles record of 18-8
- Entered the 2022 fall season ranked a career-high No. 6 in the country in singles
- Received an ITA preseason doubles ranking of No. 46 overall
- Named 2022 ITA All-American in singles play
- 2021 ITA Southern Regional Singles Champion
- Reached Doubles Round of 16 and Singles Quarterfinals at 2022 ITA Southern Championships
Lukas Engelhardt (Sr.*) – Augsburg, Germany
- Earned first ranked win of 2022-23 season against No. 89 Jan Galka (Florida) at Commodore Invite
- Finished 2021-22 with 19-12 singles record and 19-13 doubles record
- Enters 2022 fall season ranked No. 46 in doubles by the ITA
- Reached peak doubles ranking of No. 2 overall in spring of 2022
- Reached Doubles Round of 16 and Singles Round of 64 at 2022 ITA Southern Championships
Walker Stearns (So.) – Germantown, Tenn.
- Ended his freshman campaign with singles record of 7-6 and doubles record of 1-2
- TSSAA Div. II-A Singles Champion in 2021 and 2019
- TSSAA Div. II-A Doubles Champion in 2018
- Former four-star recruit by Tennis Recruiting coming out of high school
- Competed in the qualifying draw for singles at the 2022 ITA Southern Regional Championships
Gordon Whitwell (Fr.) – Oxford, Miss.
- Earned his first collegiate singles win at Commodore Invitational with 6-1, 6-3 win over Paul Wang (Vanderbilt)
- Four-star recruit by Tennis Recruiting coming out of high school
- Two-time team state champion with Oxford High School
- No. 1 recruit from Mississippi and No. 115 recruit in the U.S. for 2022
- Strung together three singles wins at the 2022 ITA Southern Regional Championships
TOURNAMENT FIELD
Georgia
Georgia Tech
Miami (FL)
Middle Tennessee State
Ole Miss
Vanderbilt
Yale
FALL SEASON FINALE IN ATLANTA
The Georgia Tech Invitational marks the end of a five-tournament fall season for the Ole Miss men's tennis team, putting a close on 2022 for the Rebels. In total the team has grabbed a total of 15 singles wins and 16 doubles wins across the fall season prior to this weekend's events, with John Hallquist Lithen leading the charge in both categories with seven singles victories and five doubles victories. The Rebels will now await the turn of the New Year to kick off their 2023 spring dual season.
REBELS MAKE RUN AT ITA SOUTHERN REGIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS
Ole Miss saw some deep tournament runs made at the 2022 ITA Southern Regional Championships in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, just two weeks ago, finding success in both singles and doubles play. Defending All-American Nikola Slavic battled his way to the tournament's Round of 16 in singles, while the pairing of John Hallquist Lithen and Simon Junk finished as Southern Regional Runners-Up in the doubles bracket as the region's No. 6 seed.
JUNK/LITHEN TRAVEL TO ITA NATIONAL FALL CHAMPIONSHIPS
With their runner-up finish in Tuscaloosa, Lithen and Junk will be missing the team's trip to Atlanta this weekend as the duo heads out West for the 2022 ITA National Fall Championships in San Diego. Despite dropping their first match of the week on Wednesday, the Rebel pairing will continue to play through the tournament's consolation bracket for the remainder of the week.
FOLLOW THE REBELS ON SOCIAL
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.
