University of Mississippi - Ole Miss Yearbook (Oxford, MS)

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I WOMEN ' S TENNIS STUCK IN THE MIDDLE The 2003-2004 Lady Rebels Tennis Team spent the season struggling against tough sec teams, but they added to the roster one of the best players in the country written bx TYLER NELSON photnoraphed by MAUHEW SHARPE esMte some short comings from a team p Tspective, the Ole Miss women ' s tennis team ud hcaci coach Mark Beyers had an overall successful 2003-2004 campaign. Individually, the Lady Rebels had a successful first half of the 2003-2004 season. But right before they began team competition, they got some great news via California. In mid-Januarv; Chloe Carlotti decided to transfer to Ole Miss from Fresno State. Carlotti, who began the year ranked No. 5 in the nation, was eligible to begin competition immediatelv. Chloe Carlotti beean the year ranked r o.. 5 m the nation and is a .two- time All American. A two-time All-American. Carlotti became the first player in the history of the Fresno Slate program to achieve 11-America honors more (han once. She finished the 2003 season with a 29-8 overall record and ranked No. 10 in sitigles. The team began the regular season on a tear, winning seven straight to Baylor Then Ole Miss hit a snag while going through the gauntlet of the SEC competition. In the conference, they only |)r(j(luccd two wins. That is until they t(Jok on Mississippi State. On April 10, the Ole .Miss women ' s tennis team i()|)pied rival .Mississi[)pi .Slate, 5-1, al the A.J. Pitts Centre to win its 15th straight against the Lady Bulldogs. With the win, the Lady Rebels improved to 11-10 overall and 3- 8 in the SEC. Now they prepared for the SEC Tournament the following weekend. On the first day of the tourney, the Lady Rebels, ranked No. 62 in the nation, snapped a four-match losing streak to 33rd-ranked South Carolina. In the first meeting between the two schools in the SEC Tournament, Ole Miss upped their lead in the overall series at 12-6. For the second year in a row, Ole Miss knocked olT the No. 8 seed and faced Florida in the quarterfinals. But it was for naught as the ninth-seeded Ole Miss tennis team fell to top- seeded and SEC Champion Florida, 4-0 at the SEC Tournament at the Brownlee O ' Currey Tennis Center Then leaning on the hope that their strength of schedule was enough to get them in to the NCAA Tournament, they were not one of the 64 teams selected. Though not all was lost as on May 5, Ole Miss received some good news as Carlotti and Virginia Tomatis were selected to the NCAA Individual Championsiiips in singles and doubles. Their luck was short lived as Manon Kruse and Carien Venter of Middle Tennessee defeated them first round of the NCAA Doubles Championship to a 6-3, 6-4 decision. Carlotti and Tomatis ended the year with a 14-7 overall record. They went 8-3 in the SEC at No. 1 doubles. The duo showing nabbed 2004 All-SEC second team in doubles as the conference postseason awards were announced. 366 I Iiii; Oi.i. Mi.ss 2005

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MEN ' S TENNIS ■{ WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS The Men ' s Tennis won their third straight SEC West Championship, but conquering the SEC title proved to be a battle was almost wire-to-wire. It was almost easy. But in the world of Southeastern Terence tennis, things never come easy. Nonetheless, after some late drama, the 2004 Ole Miss men ' s tennis team captured Ole Miss ' first SEC championship this millennium. It was the fourth conference title for the tennis program, which won the title in 1999 and tied for it in 1996 and 1997. It was a very exciting year for us, Ole Miss head tennis coach Billy Chadwick said. It was a great feat for the guys. We had tremendous team camaraderie. The tide meant even more to Chadwick in a year in which all 12 SEC schools were invited to the NCAA Tournament. Seven SEC schools were ranked in the top- 10 at some point in the season. written by CHRIS KIEFFER When you ' re in a conference where everyone is good, it means so much more, Chadwick said. I have a lot of fond memories from how hard the guys worked from the beginning to the end. Not only did they work hard, but they honestly seemed to enjoy it. It was great to see nice guys finish first. And it was a title the Rebels almost cruised to. After an 8-1, pre- conference campaign in which they were ranked as high as No. 2 in the country, Ole Miss started SEC play 7-0. They entered a road weekend against South Carolina and Florida in which they needed just one victory to clinch a share of the title. They were swept. Suddenly the race was wide open. The Rebels defeated Mississippi State 7-0 on April 1 to claim at least a share of the title. The whole title came down to Ole Miss ' final match of the season at Kentucky. Win and the Rebs were sole champs. Lose and they ' d have to share with Florida and Kentucky. Ole Miss fell behind 1-0 and 2-1, but won five of the six singles matches to knock off the Wildcats 5-2. Any SEC match on the road is difficult, Chadwick said. With Kentucky having a share of the SEC title on the line, this was that much tougher Plus, you had the top two players in the conference (Ole Miss ' s Catalin Card and Kentucky ' s Jesse Witten at No. 1 singles) going at it. The vianner would be the SEC Player of the Year There were all kinds of battles going on. It was a big moment for Ole Miss sports. Card won that match 6-2, 5-7, 7-6 (3) and became the third Rebel to earn SEC Player of the Year honors. Chadwick was named the conference ' s Coach of the Year for the second time in his career. He also won the honor in 1996. Senior Claes Lindholm was also named first team All-SEC, and senior Paul Ciorascu was named to the second team. Gard finished his junior season ranked No. 5 in the country. He went 28-9 and entered the 2005 preseason ranked No. 1 in the nation. Ole Miss knocked off Auburn and Kentucky in the first two rounds of the SEC Championships to play Georgia in the finals. Ole Miss jumped to a 3-0 lead against Georgia before falling 4-3. Still, the Rebels were chosen as an NCAA Regional host and drew the No. 8 national seed, despite being ranked No. 5 in the countrv ' . Ole Miss defeated Binghamton 4-0 in the first round, but lost to Vanderbilt 4-1 in round two. Rain forced the match to be moved indoors to the GiUom Center after the doubles point. We really felt like with a little luck, we could have gone a long way, Chadwick said. When you ' re in a conference where everyone is good, it means so much more, ' . ' Coach Chadwick said. We were extremely unlucky to not be seeded high, to have to play Vanderbilt and to have to move inside because of the rain. Bottom line is we won the SEC and finished in the top 5. You have to be happy with that. Ole Miss finished 22-5 (9-2 SEC) and ranked No. 5 in the country. It was a year they began by reaching the final four of the USTA ITA National Team Indoor, defeating eventual NCAA champion Baylor They went 12-0 at home in the regular season and improved to 15-0 all-time against SEC West opponents. The team also captured Ole Miss ' Chancellor ' s Cup for the men ' s team with the highest GPA on campus. Athletics | 365

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SENIOR KAREM HARBOE is from Vill.) Ali mana, Chile. She won i LeiliTs while pLiylni) Ji Ole Misi. Athletics I 367