HottyToddy.com’s Daily Ole Miss Sports Roundup

HottyToddy.com is giving readers a roundup of all the commentary and information about the Ole Miss Rebels from various publications around the Web.

Readers will be able to check out the latest information in a single post every day throughout the year. Here at HottyToddy.com, we are doing all the leg work to find the information that people may want to hear about Ole Miss sports.

Today’s roundup features Ole Miss Sports.

Ole Miss Men’s Tennis Ready for SEC Championship

Photo courtesy of Robert Jordan / Ole Miss Communications

The Ole Miss men’s tennis team is in Columbia, South Carolina this week for the 2016 SEC Men’s Tennis Championship. The Rebels earned the No. 9 seed and will face the No. 8 seed, Alabama, in the second round Thursday at 1 p.m. CT.

The Rebels concluded the regular season with a 14-9 overall record, 5-7 in the SEC. Gustav Hansson finished 9-3 in the SEC to lead the Rebels.

Last time out…
Ole Miss is coming off a tough loss to No. 6 Georgia at home on senior day. The Bulldogs were able to win the doubles point and take the top two courts on their way to a 4-0 win, with No. 24 Austin Smith snapping Hansson’s eight-match win streak in singles.

Scouting Alabama…
Alabama finished regular season play with a 4-2 loss to Vanderbilt. The Crimson Tide now stands at 14-12 overall and also finished 5-7 in the SEC. In the latest rankings, Korey Lovett and Mazen Osama moved up 2 spots to No. 4 in doubles, while Osama moved to 50 in singles and Lovett to the No. 79 spot.

The Winner Gets…
The winner of the second round match will face the No. 1 seed, Georgia Friday at 1 p.m. CT.

Rebels vs. Crimson Tide…
In the last meeting on April 3, Ole Miss dropped a tight 4-3 match to Alabama in Oxford. Alabama has won the last three meetings.

Rebels at SEC Championship…
Last year in the SEC Championship, the Rebels earned a first round bye and then advanced to the semifinals with a 4-1 win against Vanderbilt. It marked the 16th time for the Rebels to advance to the SEC Championship semifinals. Georgia held off the Rebels to win 4-1 in the semifinals.

National Rankings…
The Rebels are ranked No. 29 in the latest Oracle/ITA National Rankings. Sophomore Gustav Hansson moved up to No. 47 in singles and senior Stefan Lindmark is up to No. 51. In doubles, Zvonimir Babic and Filip Kraljevic are ranked No. 28.

Kraljevic Named to SEC Community Service Team…
Freshman Filip Kraljevic was named to the SEC Community Service Team Tuesday. Kraljevic has participated in Holiday Cards for Hermitage, Reading at Lafayette Elementary School and the South Carolina Drive for Flood Disaster Relief.

Quoting Head Coach Toby Hansson…
“We are excited to begin the SEC Championship. We are playing some good tennis right now and looking forward to the rematch with Alabama. The last match could have gone either way; it was just a few points from being in our favor.”

For more information on Ole Miss Men’s Tennis, follow the Rebels on Twitter @OleMissMTennis, on Facebook at OleMissMTennis and on Instagram at OleMissMTennis, follow Coach Hansson on Twitter at @TennisToby.

Courtesy of Ole Miss Sports

Ole Miss Holds off Tennessee in SEC Championship First Round

Photo courtesy of Kevin Bain

With their postseason chances hanging in the balance, sophomore Natalie Suk fought off two match points and rallied to clinch a 4-3 win for the Ole Miss women’s tennis team against Tennessee in the first round of the SEC Championship Wednesday.

In the regular season meeting, Suk lost in straight sets to Eve Repic at court two. This time, Suk won the first set 7-5. Repic raced through the second set 6-1 forcing a deciding set. Suk faced two match points at 5-3, 40-30, but fought them off and won three straight games to send it to a tiebreaker. She got off to a good start in the breaker and held on to win it 7-3 to send the Rebels on to a second round meeting against fifth-seeded South Carolina.

The Rebels began the day with 6-3 wins on courts three and one to secure the doubles point. They built a 3-0 lead as senior Mai El Kamash downed Kim Kermet 6-1, 6-2 at No. 3 singles and then freshman Allie Sanford stepped into the lineup at No. 5 and downed UT’s Mary Catherine Meredith 6-4, 6-2.

Tennessee earned two straight set wins on courts one and four and a three-setter on six to tie the match and set up the final outcome on court two.

Notables…
• The Rebels are now 13-10 overall and advance to face the No. 5 seed, South Carolina Thursday at 10 a.m.
• It marked the sixth 4-3 match the Rebels have played this year.
• Natalie Suk improved to 9-9 at No. 2 singles and clinched her first match of the year.
• Arianne Hartono and Mai El Kamash improved to 10-7 at No. 1 doubles.
• Zalina Khairudinova and Marija Milutinovic improved to 8-4 at No. 3 doubles.

Quoting Head coach Mark Beyers…
“This was another battle like every match in the SEC this year. It’s nice to finally come out on the good end of one of these nail-biters. Now we have to get ready for South Carolina. That was one of the matches we let slip away during the regular season, and we have an opportunity to avenge that loss.”

Natalie Suk on her match…
“I was trying to take it one point at a time and really just tried to stay in my match. When I looked over at court six I realized I was the last match. Honestly I knew if we don’t win we will not make NCAAs. I was fighting for something a lot bigger than that match.”

For more information on Ole Miss Women’s Tennis, follow the Rebels on Twitter @OleMissWTennis, on Facebook at OleMissWTennis and on Instagram at OleMissWTennis. Also follow Coach Beyers on Twitter, @MarkBeyers.

Courtesy of Ole Miss Sports

Ole Miss Continues to Make Gains in APR

Photo by Jeff McVay

The number one core value in the Ole Miss Athletics Department mission statement set forth by athletics director Ross Bjork is academic excellence.

Not only are Ole Miss student-athletes setting records on the fields and courts, but in the classroom as well. In the latest Academic Progress Rate (APR) report released Wednesday, every single sport exceeded the benchmark and achieved a four-year average above 955.

Nine teams scored above the national average in their respective sports, and women’s tennis and volleyball achieved a perfect 1000 score. Both teams earned an NCAA Public Recognition Award last week.

“We’re very excited that each team’s four-year average is at or above a 955 rate,” senior associate athletics director Derek Cowherd said. “This, coupled with the highest graduation success rate (GSR) in school history and also earning the highest cumulative GPA in school history, is proof that our students and staff have tried to embody the core values and work ethic that Ross Bjork and the leadership team are striving to achieve. Our goal is to compete for championships and graduate student-athletes, and our coaches, administration and support staff are definitely working to keep improving each and every year.”

Joining women’s tennis and volleyball with perfect scores for the 2014-15 year are men’s tennis, women’s cross country, women’s golf and women’s soccer.

Men’s tennis (986), women’s cross country (990), women’s golf (994), softball (993), soccer (994), women’s tennis (1000), women’s track and field (979) and volleyball (1000) all posted multi-year APR scores at or above the national average (979) for Division I.

Listed below are the latest APR Scores for all Ole Miss sports teams.

Courtesy of Ole Miss Sports

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