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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss
Virginia
Men’s Tennis Set for Second Round Clash with Virginia
5/6/2023 | Men's Tennis
Rebels Aim to Reach Sweet Sixteen for 18th Time in Program History
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#26 OLE MISS (18-9, 6-6 SEC) vs. #5 Virginia (25-4, 12-0 ACC) Sunday, May 7 • 12 p.m. CT • Charlottesville, Va. Boar's Head Sports Club |
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CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The Ole Miss men's tennis team continues its postseason push on Sunday, May 7, as the Rebels are slated to take on the Virginia Cavaliers in the second round of the NCAA Tournament in Charlottesville.
The Rebels (18-9, 6-6 SEC) are aiming to earn their 18th Sweet Sixteen appearance in program history, with the team's last time advancing through the second round being in 2021. However, the Rebels will have a difficult test standing in their way in Virginia (25-4, 12-0 ACC), who were ACC conference champions this year coming off of their 2022 National Championship run.
Tickets are $5 for general admission and $3 for students with a valid ID per session. Ages 2 and up are required to have a ticket. Tickets can be purchased beginning Tuesday by calling the Virginia Athletics ticket office at 434-924-8821, online at UVAtix.com, or on-site at Boar's Head Resort starting one hour prior to the event.
Live scoring and live video for the second round matchup 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
Ole Miss enters the NCAA Tournament ranked as the No. 26 team in the nation in the latest ITA Team Rankings. Senior Nikola Slavic remains the lone Rebel ranked in singles play, slotting into the No. 64 position. Slavic and teammate Lukas Engelhardt also continue to reside in the ITA Doubles Rankings, settling into the No. 44 spot in this week's rankings.
Sweeping Their Way to the Second Round
The Rebels opened up their NCAA Tournament run with a convincing 4-0 sweep over Atlantic 10 conference champions, VCU, on Saturday. Despite the Rams only having lost five matches prior to their matchup with Ole Miss, the Rebels earned a hard-fought doubles point that set the tone for the remainder of the day's matches. Singles victories from the No. 4, No. 5 and No. 6 positions for the Rebels provided the clinching blows, as Ole Miss navigated its way to the second round for the first time since 2021.
Slavic and Lithen Claim All-SEC Honors
Two Rebel men's tennis players came away with All-Conference accolades from the SEC's end of season awards announcement last week, as Nikola Slavic and John Hallquist Lithen both earned spots on the All-SEC Second Team for their efforts during the 2022-23 campaign. Slavic earns his third consecutive All-SEC honor for the Rebels, having been a First Team (2022) and Second Team (2021) honoree in previous years for Ole Miss. Lithen earns what is his first conference accolade since 2021, when the Gothenburg, Sweden, native came away with a spot on the All-Freshman team.
Engelhardt Named to SEC Community Service Team
Ole Miss men's tennis senior Lukas Engelhardt was one of 13 student-athletes to receive a place on the SEC Community Service Team, the Southeastern Conference announced in April. The SEC Community Service Team serves as an annual effort by the Southeastern Conference to highlight the accomplishments of student-athletes beyond the field of competition. A total of 13 individuals were named to the SEC Community Service Team this season, representing each men's tennis program within the conference. A four-year starter with the Ole Miss men's tennis team, Engelhardt has led the charge for the Rebel squad in getting the team involved with the community. Engelhardt has gotten involved in several programs focused on the betterment of the Oxford community throughout his playing career.
The Oxford Advantage
The Rebels wrapped up what was an unbelievable season at home on Sunday with the team's 4-3 victory over No. 21 Texas A&M, marking the Rebels' 13th home win of the 2022-23 season. Finishing with a record of 13-3 across their 16 matches hosted at the Palmer/Salloum Tennis Center and William F. Galtney Tennis Center, that number of home wins for the Rebels stands as the most home victories for an Ole Miss men's tennis team since the 2006-07 season. The Rebels went on to finish a perfect 14-0 in Oxford that year, just beating out this year's Rebel team.
Court 1 Dream Team
Nikola Slavic and Lukas Engelhardt have been on a tear for the Rebels in the No. 1 doubles position, earning a 9-3 record when playing together in Court 1 doubles this year. With an overall record of 15-7 in 2022-23, the senior duo has yet to drop a ranked doubles matchup this season, going 3-0 to help the Ole Miss tandem slide into the No. 40 position in the latest ITA Doubles Rankings. While the pair will likely split up this weekend, the duo will still continue to pose a threat for the Rebels moving forward in the SEC Tournament on their respective doubles courts.
A Historic Streak for the Rebels
Prior to the Rebels' loss to the Florida Gators earlier in the season, the team saw itself on a historic win streak, having won their previous nine straight dual matches. The streak stands as the longest streak for the Rebel squad since the 2008-09 season, in which Ole Miss strung together an unbelievable 20-match win streak enroute to finishing 10-0 in SEC play, claiming both the SEC regular season and SEC tournament titles. That Rebel team's season would come to a close with a loss in the Sweet Sixteen of the NCAA Tournament, ending the year with a 27-3 record overall on the year.
Team Profile: Virginia
The Virginia Cavaliers (25-4, 12-0 ACC) enter their match with the Rebels ranked No. 5 in the country overall, and that isn't without good reason. The UVA squad is coming off of a season in which they finished a perfect 12-0 in conference play, navigating the ACC en route to earning the 2023 ACC Championship. Virginia is also looking to defend their national title from just a season ago, having captured the 2022 NCAA National Championship with a 28-5 record last year. The Cavaliers are headlined by Chris Rodesch, who currently ranks No. 9 in the nation in singles and No. 29 in doubles. The junior has amassed a record of 24-6 in singles play, recording a staggering 14 ranked singles victories on the 2022-23 season. Rodesch is one of four Cavaliers currently ranked in the ITA's Top 100 singles players in the nation, while also being a member of one of the team's four ranked doubles pairings.
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
