OXFORD, Miss. – The No. 6 ranked Ole Miss men’s tennis team heads to College Station, Texas this weekend seeking the outright SEC Western Division Championship. The Rebels will face No. 14 Texas A&M Sunday at 1 p.m. at the George P. Mitchell Tennis Center.
The Rebels (15-6, 7-4 SEC) clinched at least a share of their 10th SEC West title with a 4-2 win over South Carolina last Sunday. A win against the Aggies would give Ole Miss sole possession of the championship.
Ole Miss is also currently vying for the No. 2 seed in the upcoming SEC Tournament to be held next week in Oxford. The logjam near the top of the standings includes Kentucky, Tennessee and Vanderbilt all at 6-4 in conference play. Mississippi State, Texas A&M and Auburn are just one game back of the opening cluster as those teams are 5-5 in conference play.
“We are looking forward to another great SEC battle,” head coach Billy Chadwick said. “A lot is on the line with SEC seeding and NCAA seeding as well as a chance for us to have the SEC West Championship all to ourselves.”
The Rebels continue to be led at the top by sophomore Nik Scholtz and senior Jonas Lutjen. Scholtz is ranked No. 15 in the nation in singles with an 11-5 record at No. 1 singles. Lutjen comes in ranked No. 14 with an 11-5 record at No. 2 singles. The pair is ranked No. 4 in the nation in doubles with a 14-2 record at the top spot.
A&M comes into the weekend 15-7 overall and 5-5 in the SEC. They host Mississippi State Friday before taking on the Rebels. The Aggies are led by Jeremy Efferding, who is ranked No. 40 in singles. Their No. 1 doubles team of Jackson Withrow and Junior Ore is ranked No. 9 in the nation.
This will be the first meeting between Ole Miss and Texas A&M as members of the same conference. The two last faced each other in 2010 in the second round of the NCAA Championships with the Aggies taking a close 4-2 win.
The match will feature live video/scoring and can be accessed by going to OleMissSports.com and clicking on the link in the calendar.
