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Rebel Netters Announce 2012 Schedule
OXFORD,
Miss. – Highlighted by six Southeastern Conference matches and one
against 2011 NCAA Finalist Virginia, the Ole Miss men’s tennis team
will play nine home matches in 2012 at the Palmer/Salloum Tennis
Center, which is undergoing a major
renovation.
Admission to all home matches is free. The Rebels return five of
the top seven players from last year’s team, which earned the program’s
18th straight NCAA appearance, and add one of the top newcomers in
college tennis.
The Rebels will be led by the senior twin duo of Marcel Thiemann and
Chris Thiemann. Marcel began the year ranked No. 12 in the nation in
singles and No. 2 in doubles with Chris. Chris is ranked No. 68
in singles.
Also returning are junior Jonas Lutjen, ranked No. 72 in the country;
sophomore Johan Backstrom and junior Adrian Forberg Skogeng.
Lutjen and Backstrom won the ITA Southern Regional Doubles title this
fall and earned a spot in the USTA/ITA National Indoor.
South African native Nikala Scholtz will make his debut for the
Rebels. Scholtz was the top-ranked player in 18-under in South
Africa and was ranked as high as No. 22 in the ITF Junior
Rankings. He began the fall ranked No. 5 in the ITA Newcomer
Rankings and is expected to make a huge impact in college tennis.
“Over the last three years, we have established ourselves as one of the
leaders in home attendance,” head coach Billy Chadwick said. “We
are very excited about the new additions to the Palmer/Salloum Tennis
Center, and we are looking forward to our fans helping us continue our
home court advantage.”
The Rebels will begin the 2012 season Jan. 13-16 at the SEC Indoor in
Lexington, Ky. Following that, the Rebels will welcome
Southern Miss to Oxford on Jan. 26 in the first of nine home matches.
Participating in the ITA Kickoff Weekend for the fourth year in a row,
the Rebels will travel to Knoxville, Tenn., to face Oklahoma, who
finished the 2011 season ranked No. 22 nationally. Tennessee and
Michigan State make up the rest of the four-team regional with the
winner advancing to the National Team Indoor Feb. 17-20 in
Charlottesville, Va.
The Rebels will kick off the outdoor season and christen the newly
renovated tennis center Feb. 28 with a match against Memphis.
Ole Miss will face six Southeastern Conference teams in Oxford this
year beginning the first weekend in March with Auburn (March 2) and
Alabama (March 4).
The Rebels will welcome last year’s NCAA Runner-up, Virginia on March
7. “This is one of the biggest non-conference matches around the
country, and we’re excited the match will be played in Oxford,”
Chadwick said.
Following the Virginia match, the Rebels will hit the road for a pair
of matches against SEC East foes Tennessee (March 9) and Georgia (March
11). The Rebels will play at South Carolina on March 23 before
returning home for a big match against Florida on March 25.
Arkansas comes to town on March 30, while LSU visits on April 1.
The Rebels’ final road trip includes matches at Vanderbilt (April 6)
and Kentucky (April 8) before returning home to close out the regular
season with arch-rival Mississippi State on April 14.
The SEC Championship will be in Starkville April 19-22. The NCAA
first and second rounds take place May 11-12, and the NCAA Final 16
returns to Athens, Ga. May 17-22.
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