Nik Scholtz hits the ball during an NCAA college tennis match in Oxford, Miss., Sunday, March 23, 2014. (DM Photo/Alex Edwards)
After the long wait, the Rebel Netters qualified for the NCAA Tournament for the 21st consecutive year on Tuesday and will travel to South Bend, Ind., for the first round.
The Rebels (15-13, 4-8 Southeastern Conference) will have no easy task to start the tournament as they face 32nd-ranked Northwestern. The winner of the match will face the winner of Green Bay and No. 13 Notre Dame.
The Rebels ended the season on a strong note, picking up SEC wins against No. 8 Texas A&M in the final home SEC match of the season and against No. 20 Tennessee in the SEC Tournament. The Rebels’ SEC Tournament run came to an end by losing to Kentucky in the next round.
With the strong finish to the season, the Rebel netters are very excited for NCAA tournament play.
“We are really excited about our draw,” junior Nik Scholtz said. “We definitely got one that’s beatable, and we’re going to work really hard these next two weeks to prepare for it. We faced some challenges at the end of the season, and I am really proud of the guys for stepping up and taking us to the NCAA Tournament.”
The Rebels are led by Scholtz, who garnered the honor of SEC Player of the Year for the season. Scholtz finished the season ranked 9th in the nation in singles, which is the highest ranked SEC players in singles. Scholtz finished the season with an overall record of 15-1 at No. 1 singles.
The Rebels first opponent in the NCAA Tournament, Northwestern, ended the regular season with a 21-10 overall record, going 7-4 in the Big 10 and going 14-2 at home.
The Wildcats made it to the semifinals of the Big 10 Tournament, but lost to No. 2 Ohio State 4-0. The Wildcats are led by 46th ranked Raleigh Smith, who finished the season with a 13-10 record at No. 1 singles.
The match against Northwestern will start 10 a.m. May 10 in South Bend. If the Rebels win, the next round against the winner of Green Bay and Notre Dame will be 1 p.m. May 11 for the right to advance to the Sweet 16 in Athens, Ga.
Ole Miss Sports Information contributed to this report.
