By Adam Brown
Sports Editor
adam.brown@hottytoddy.com
The No. 32 Ole Miss men’s tennis team takes to the court on Friday in the first round of the NCAA Tennis Team Championships as they face No. 37 Utah Utes in the Fort Worth Regional. The first serve is set for 2 p.m. at the Bayard H. Friedman Tennis Center.
Ole Miss enters the NCAA Tournament with a 16-12 overall record and a 4-8 mark in the SEC. The Rebels come into the Fort Worth Regional as the No. 2 seed.
This marks the 28th consecutive tournament appearance for the Rebels and 30th in program history.
Ole Miss joins No. 1 seed TCU, No. 3 Utah and No. 4 Drake in Fort Worth.
The Rebels placed one singles player and one doubles team within the ITA top-20 in the latest rankings update Wednesday (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.
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.
Fans can get live scoring and video from the match here.
The winner will advance to the round of 32 and take on the winner of No. 1 TCU and No. 4 Drake Saturday at 4 p.m. in the regional championship match.
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