JACKSONVILLE – The Jacksonville State men’s tennis team is headed to Oxford, Miss., next week for its first appearance in the 121st NCAA Men’s Tennis Championships to face Ole Miss, the third seed in the 64-team tournament.

The Gamecocks (14-9, 6-2 Ohio Valley Conference) earned the OVC’s automatic bid into the field after downing top-seeded Samford in the O’Reilly Auto Parts OVC Championship on April 17, giving JSU the school’s first tennis championship since moving to Division I in 1993.

Jax State will have to travel less than 300 miles to face their first-round foe, Ole Miss (21-3), a member of the Southeastern Conference, which put 10 teams in the field. On the other side of the four-team regional will be SEC foe Auburn and Sun Belt Conference champion Middle Tennessee. JSU and Auburn are the only two teams from the State of Alabama in the field.

“We thought all along that it would be either Florida or Ole Miss,” JSU head coach Steve Bailey said. “Ole Miss was the No. 3 seed, so they are very, very good. It will be a real challenge for our guys, because they are one of the picks to win the national championship. We have everything to gain and nothing to lose, so we are going to go out there, have fun and see what happens.”

The Gamecocks have come on strong down the stretch to win seven of their last nine matches to overcome a 3-4 start to the season. They have been led by their top four players, who are all seniors. The key to Jax State’s success all year, Vedran Sirola, Arturo Nieto, Rodney Rapson and Kieran Ricci earned all four of the team’s points in their 4-3 win over Samford in the OVC final.

“I can’t think of a more fitting way for our seniors to finish their career than to be Jacksonville State’s first NCAA Division I Tournament team,” Bailey said. “They came so close last year, and they came back determined and were not going to be denied this season.”

The Rebels are led by their No. 1 singles player, Catalin Gard, who is ranked as the nation’s No. 4 singles player by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association. The first round will be held on either Friday, May 13, or Saturday, May 14.