Men’s Tennis Takes on Utah Utes in NCAA Round of 64 Friday

OXFORD, Miss. – No. 32 Ole Miss Men’s Tennis (16-12, 4-8 SEC) is set to face No. 37 Utah (20-7, 4-4 SEC) in the first round of the NCAA Team Championships on Friday at X CT. The Rebels are competing in the Fort Worth Regional for the NCAA first and second rounds Friday and Saturday.
 
The Rebels prepare to face the Utes in the round of 64 of the NCAA Team Championships on Friday afternoon. Ole Miss returns to the event for its 28th consecutive tournament and 30th in program history.
 
Two Seeded Rebs
 
Ole Miss, ranked No. 32 in the ITA national rankings, received a No. 2 Seed in regional tournament action this year. The Fort Worth Regional is hosted by the tournament’s No. 1 overall seed TCU. The Horned Frogs face the region’s No. 4 Seed, Drake, on Friday evening.
 
Rebels in the Rankings
 
The Rebels placed one singles player and one doubles team within the ITA top-20 in the latest rankings update yesterday (May 4). No. 1 Singles player Nikola Slavic improved his ranking by three spots to No. 14 in Singles (a new career-best). Finn Reynolds and Lukas Engelhardt vaulted six positions up the rankings to No. 19 in the country in doubles.
 
Recent Tournament Form
 
Ole Miss competed in tournament action to begin the 2022 spring season, qualifying for the ITA National Indoor Tournament. The Rebels won twice at home during ITA Kickoff Weekend (Jan. 29-30) prior to falling in the Round of 16 to No. 3 Baylor on Feb. 18 in Seattle.
 
In the 2021 NCAA Team Championships the Rebels also defended homecourt in regional action, advancing to the NCAA Sweet 16 in Orlando. The Rebels then fell to a top nationally-ranked Baylor Bears team on May 17 last year.
 
Updates on the Utes
 
Utah earned victories in 20 of 27 dual matches this season. Notably, the Utes started the season 16-0 prior to competing in conference play. Utah defeated four ranked opponents this season, earning victories versus No. 44 Oregon, No. 46 Washington, No. 53 UCLA and No. 63 Arizona State. The Utes fell 4-2 in the PAC-12 Championships in their most recent match on April 21.
 
No. 37 Utah features one ranked singles player, No. 107 Geronimo Busleiman, and one ranked doubles team No. 27 Busleiman and Franco Capablo. Busleiman earned a 24-3 record in singles this season and a 17-1 record in duals primarily at No. 3 Singles.
 
Live scoring and…