Oct. 17, 2012

OXFORD, Miss. -- The Ole Miss men's tennis team heads to Auburn, Ala., Thursday to play in the ITA Southern Regional, a five-day event that the Rebels have dominated the last few years.

The Southern Regional, which runs Thursday through Monday, features teams from the states of Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi.  SEC opponents Alabama, Auburn, LSU and Mississippi State will be among the schools that will challenge for the individual singles and doubles titles at Auburn's Yarbrough Tennis Center.  

Singles and doubles winners will earn direct entry into the ITA National Indoor Championships, which take place in November at the USTA Billie Jean King Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, N.Y.

"This is always a great event," head coach Billy Chadwick said.  "It gives the players an opportunity to play their way into the National Indoor.   The guys have worked really hard this fall, and we are looking forward to facing top competition."

The Rebels will be lead in singles by Nik Scholtz, ranked No. 5 in the nation and the top seed in the event.  Senior Adrian Forberg-Skogeng, junior Johan Backstrom, sophomores William Kallberg and Joe Rogers and freshmen Stefan Lindmark and Zach Wilder will also compete for the Rebels.

Senior Jonas Lutjen, ranked No. 21 in the nation, will not compete in the singles draw, having earned an automatic spot in the National Indoors by winning the consolation bracket at the ITA All-American Championships.  Lutjen will play doubles however, teaming up with Scholtz to form the nation's No. 2 ranked doubles team.

Ole Miss has had much success at this event the last few years.  Former two-time All-SEC honoree Tucker Vorster took the 2010 singles title, while Lutjen was a finalist last year.  The Rebels have won back-to-back doubles titles, with All-American twins Chris Thiemann and Marcel Thiemann winning it in 2010 and Lutjen and Backstrom following up with the title last year.

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