Men's Tennis Takes on Nationally-Ranked Ole Miss in Monday Doubleheader

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Coming off an eight-day break from match action, the Belmont University men's tennis team returns to its non-conference slate Monday with a doubleheader at nationally-ranked Ole Miss. The Bruins (6-2) are set to take on the 59th-ranked Rebels (9-2) at 10 a.m. outdoors at the Palmer/Salloum Tennis Center in Oxford, Mississippi. The second match of the doubleheader will start at approximately 2 p.m.
 
Live scoring of the Monday doubleheader will be available at BelmontBruins.com.
 
Belmont returns to the site of its 2021 NCAA Championship First Round match with then 15th-ranked Ole Miss. Despite dropping the NCAA postseason contest 4-0, the Bruins earned a win at No. 3 doubles.
 
In January of 2020, Belmont also made a trip down to Oxford where the Bruins were handed a 7-0 setback by the host Rebels.
 
In fact, both of Belmont's NCAA Championship First Round matches have been at Ole Miss. The Bruins' first NCAA Men's Tennis Championship appearance came in 2006 and Belmont was ousted 4-0 by the host Rebels in the opening round.
 
Closing out a treacherous five-match road stretch, the Bruins earned a gritty 4-3 victory at Bellarmine last Sunday in Louisville, Kentucky. After sweeping doubles, Belmont needed wins at the top three singles positions to secure the road triumph. Both graduate student Marko Ilic and sophomore Ian Cruz gutted out three-set wins at No. 1 and No. 3 singles and junior Alfred Wallin picked up a 6-2, 6-4 win at No. 2 singles.
 
After a perfect 5-0 start, the Bruins achieved their first national ranking in program history on Feb. 21 as Belmont was tabbed No. 74 by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA).
 
Ole Miss enters Monday on a six-match winning streak and knocked off 18th-ranked Magnolia State rival Mississippi State 4-3 at home on Saturday. The Rebels' only two losses this season have come against Princeton (4-1) at the ITA Kickoff Weekend in Charlottesville, Virginia, and to then 19th-ranked Columbia (6-1) in Oxford on Feb. 3.
 
Ole Miss senior Nikola Slavic boasts a national singles ranking of No. 68. He is 7-2 in dual matches this season at the top spot.
 
Up Next
The Bruins return to the Music City Friday to host Richmond indoors at the Ensworth Tennis Center. First serve is scheduled for 4 p.m. Next Saturday, Belmont heads back to Mississippi where the Bruins will take on nationally-ranked Mississippi State in Starkville at 4 p.m.
 
Follow Belmont men's tennis on social media – @BelmontMTennis on Twitter and @belmontmtennis on Instagram – for complete coverage of the Bruins. Stay up to date with all of Belmont's athletic programs via the official app of the Belmont Bruins, available both in the Apple App Store and on Google Play.