Men's NCAA Regional Championship

The Ole Miss men's tennis team advanced to the NCAA Championships in Athens, Ga., with a convincing 4-0 win over South Alabama in the Men's Regional Final Saturday at the Palmer/Salloum Tennis Center in front a crowd of 784.

With the win, the Rebels (19-5) advance to play Mississippi State in the round of 16 next Saturday. The Rebels defeated Navy 4-1 in the first round of the regional. This marks the sixth year in a row that the Rebels have advanced to the "Sweet Sixteen".

"We were worried about South Alabama because they had been beat up all year and their ranking does not show how good they really are," head coach Billy Chadwick said. Anders (Stenman) and Vikrant (Chadha) picked it up today. They played good against Navy, but they played great today."

Ole Miss took the early lead by winning the doubles point with wins at No. 1 and 2 doubles. Anders Stenman and Vikrant Chadha defeated Fredrik Mellin and Dani Homedes 8-5 and then James Shortall and Martin Sjoqvist rallied from a 3-1 deficit to beat Paul McInerney and Julian Raynal 8-5.

Stenman downed Christian Thall 6-3, 6-3 at No. 3 singles to give Ole Miss a 2-0 lead and then Chadha handed Zak Lahmar a 6-1, 6-4 loss to make it a commanding 3-0 advantage with Ole Miss having won the first set in three of the remaining matches. Chadha is now 6-1 all-time in NCAA play.

With court one having split, and the Rebels up in the other two matches, Sjoqvist finished off McInerney 6-1, 6-2 at No. 2 singles to clinch the win for Ole Miss.

"It's exciting to see this many people come for the match," Chadwick said. "Our facility really puts the fans on top of the action and makes for a very exciting environment for collegiate tennis."

The Rebels defeated South Alabama for the second time in three years. They downed the Jaguars 4-0 in the final of the Blue/Gray Classic in 1997.

"I'm proud of our guys, especially with our win over Virginia yesterday," South Alabama head coach Scott Novak said. "Ole Miss is a very good team with a lot of experience and talent. I thought we played as well as we could play today, but Ole Miss had too much."

Ole Miss and Mississippi State will be meeting for the third time this year. The Bulldogs won the first meeting a 4-3 victory in the Mississippi Cup and then the Rebels won 4-3 in the regular season meeting in Oxford.

OLE MISS 4

South Alabama 0

DOUBLES

#1 Shortall-Sjoqvist (OM) def. McInerney-Raynal (USA) 8-5

#2 Stenman-Chadha (OM) def. Mellin-Homedes (USA) 8-5

#3 Selin-Stahlberg (OM) vs. Thall-Hesser (USA) suspended 7-6 om

SINGLES

#1 James Shortall (OM) vs. Julian Raynal (USA) 6-3 USA, 6-3 OM

#2 Martin Sjoqvist (OM) def. Paul McInerney (USA) 6-1, 6-2

#3 Anders Stenman (OM) def. Christian Thall (USA) 6-3, 6-3

#4 Vikrant Chadha (OM) def. Zak Lahmar (USA) 6-1, 6-4

#5 Martin Selin (OM) vs. Fredrik Mellin (USA) 6-3, 5-4, OM,

#6 Kristofer Stahlberg (OM) vs. Carl Hesser (USA) 6-4, OM, 4-3 USA

The University of Mississippi Athletics

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