The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss
Arkansas
Men’s Tennis Hits the Road for SEC Clash with Arkansas
3/8/2023 | Men's Tennis
Match Marks the Team’s First True Road Match of 2023
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NO. 35 OLE MISS (11-2, 1-0 SEC) at No. 44 Arkansas (12-2, 0-1 SEC) Thursday, Mar. 9 • 5:30 p.m. CT • Fayetteville, Ark. Billingsley Tennis Center |
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FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Ole Miss men's tennis rolls into SEC play with their first true road match of the season, as the No. 35 Rebels travel to Fayetteville to take on No. 44 Arkansas on Thursday at 5:30 p.m. CT.
The Rebels (11-2, 1-0 SEC) carry an eight-match win streak into their tie with the Razorbacks (12-2, 0-1 SEC), coming off of a big win in the team's SEC opener on Saturday. The matchup stands as the first of six road tests for the Rebels in their SEC schedule.
Live scoring and live video for both matches will be available to the public. Links to both can be found above as well as on the Ole Miss men's tennis schedule page.
Rebels in the Rankings
After sweeping through yet another week's matches, the Rebels' eight-match win streak helped propel the Ole Miss squad up in the latest ITA Team Rankings, with the Rebels settling into the No. 35 spot in the country. Senior Nikola Slavic remains the lone Rebel to hold any individual ranking, with Slavic coming in at No. 69 in the ITA Singles Rankings for the week.
Eight Straight for the Rebs
The Rebels have been on an absolute tear to close out the team's non-conference schedule, winning their past eight matches in a row to hold an 11-2 record on the year. Sprinkled into that streak were two ranked wins for the Rebel squad, with the team defeating No. 68 SMU and No. 18 Mississippi State. The streak, which date's back to the team's 5-2 win over Tulane on February 5, stands as the longest active win streak amongst all SEC teams.
Red-Hot Lithen Leads the Rebel Charge
Junior John Hallquist Lithen has led the way for the Rebels over the team's stellar win streak, posting a seven-match win streak of his own in singles action. Lithen, who leads the team in both total singles wins (17) and ranked singles wins (4) in the 2022-23 season, helped the Rebels secure their upset win over No. 18 Mississippi with a match-clinching win over No. 107 ranked Petar Jovanovic. The Gothenburg, Sweden, native currently holds a 10-1 record for the Rebels in the dual season, playing all of his matches in the No. 2 singles spot.
Rolling into SEC Play
The Rebels' match against Mississippi State on Saturday marked the first of 12 conference matchups for the squad in 2023, with six of those fixtures set to be played in Oxford. The Rebels will now hit the road to head to Fayetteville before returning home March 16 to host Florida. This will then open up a three-match road spell for the team before the Rebels return to Oxford for four straight home matches, ending with Senior Day on April 9 against Texas A&M. The Rebels will then wrap up their regular season with two difficult road matchups against Tennessee and Georgia before heading into postseason play.
Team Profile: Arkansas
The Arkansas Razorbacks (12-2, 0-1 SEC) enter their matchup with the Rebels ranked as the No. 44 team in the nation in ITA's latest team rankings. The Razorback side comes into their matchup with Ole Miss coming off of a tough 4-2 loss to then-unranked Vanderbilt to open their SEC schedule, marking their first team loss since January 28 at the ITA Kickoff Weekend against Northwestern. Headlining the Arkansas team is the ranked doubles pairing of Adrien Burdet and Melvin Manuel, who enter Thursday's match ranked as the No. 75 doubles team in the country. The duo has been perfect when playing together in the No. 1 doubles position, going 4-0 over the spring season. Manuel leads the Razorbacks on the singles courts as well, with the junior going 7-1 in the spring dual season after playing all of his matches in either the No. 2 or No. 3 singles spot.
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.
Players Mentioned
