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BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Following an outstanding performance last week, Ole Miss sophomore Nik Scholtz was tabbed the SEC Men's Tennis Player of the Week, the league office announced Wednesday.
The South Africa native went 7-0 in singles and doubles last week and helped the Rebels to a top-10 finish at the ITA National Team Indoor, including wins over No. 14 Tennessee and then No. 10 Mississippi State. As a result of their finish, the Rebels moved up to No. 10 in this week's ITA National Rankings.
In the team's first round match against then No. 6 Georgia, Scholtz teamed up with Jonas Lutjen to dominate the nation's No. 5 ranked doubles team 8-1. On Saturday Scholtz teamed with Jonas Lutjen to clinch the doubles point against Tennessee and then won in straight sets against the No. 11 ranked player in the country to set up teammate Adrian Forberg Skogeng's clinching match at six.
Scholtz came up big again Sunday, as he helped the Rebels avenge an earlier loss to Mississippi State in the River Hills Cup and snap a four-match losing streak to the Bulldogs. He teamed up for an 8-4 win against the 13th-ranked team at No. 1 doubles to help secure the doubles point, and then defeated the 19th-ranked player in the nation in straight sets, after losing to him in three sets in the previous match, to give the Rebels the lead for good.
This marks the second conference weekly accolade for Scholtz, who earned Freshman of the Week honors last year and went on to be named Freshman of the Year. He improved to 13-3 overall, 5-1 at No. 1 singles and 6-1 at No. 1 doubles with Lutjen.
The Rebels will host Memphis Tuesday, Feb. 26 at 2 p.m. at the Palmer/Salloum Tennis Center in the team's first outdoor match of the season.
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