Men’s Tennis Hits the Road for SEC Clash with Arkansas

			NO. 35 OLE MISS (11-2, 1-0 SEC) at No. 44 Arkansas (12-2, 0-1 SEC) Thursday, Mar. 9 • 5:30 p.m. CT • Fayetteville, Ark. Billingsley Tennis Center

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Ole Miss men’s tennis rolls into SEC play with their first true road match of the season, as the No. 35 Rebels travel to Fayetteville to take on No. 44 Arkansas on Thursday at 5:30 p.m. CT.

The Rebels (11-2, 1-0 SEC) carry an eight-match win streak into their tie with the Razorbacks (12-2, 0-1 SEC), coming off of a big win in the team’s SEC opener on Saturday. The matchup stands as the first of six road tests for the Rebels in their SEC schedule.

Live scoring and live video for both matches will be available to the public. Links to both can be found above as well as on the Ole Miss men’s tennis schedule page.

Rebels in the Rankings

After sweeping through yet another week’s matches, the Rebels’ eight-match win streak helped propel the Ole Miss squad up in the latest ITA Team Rankings, with the Rebels settling into the No. 35 spot in the country. Senior Nikola Slavic remains the lone Rebel to hold any individual ranking, with Slavic coming in at No. 69 in the ITA Singles Rankings for the week.

Eight Straight for the Rebs

The Rebels have been on an absolute tear to close out the team’s non-conference schedule, winning their past eight matches in a row to hold an 11-2 record on the year. Sprinkled into that streak were two ranked wins for the Rebel squad, with the team defeating No. 68 SMU and No. 18 Mississippi State. The streak, which date’s back to the team’s 5-2 win over Tulane on February 5, stands as the longest active win streak amongst all SEC teams.

Red-Hot Lithen Leads the Rebel Charge

Junior John Hallquist Lithen has led the way for the Rebels over the team’s stellar win streak, posting a seven-match win streak of his own in singles action. Lithen, who leads the team in both total singles wins (17) and ranked singles wins (4) in the 2022-23 season, helped the Rebels secure their upset win over No. 18 Mississippi with a match-clinching win over No. 107 ranked Petar Jovanovic. The Gothenburg, Sweden, native currently holds a 10-1 record for the Rebels in the dual season, playing all of his matches in the No. 2 singles spot.

Rolling into SEC…