01/31/04
Soccer
STARKVILLE, Miss. ­ Mississippi State freshman goalkeeper Luisa Marzotto added yet another postseason honor to her resumé Friday morning as the Canberra, Australia, was one of 11 rookies nationwide to garner 2003 Soccer America College Women's Freshman All-America accolades, the distinguished magazine announced.

Marzotto was one of just two players selected from the Southeastern Conference, joining Florida's Melanie Booth on the squad of rookie standouts.

Marzotto played and started all 20 games for the 9-8-3 Bulldogs in 2003, surrendering 18 goals in 1,857 minutes of playing time for a goals against average of 0.87. Her school record GAA mark accompanied two other MSU records as well, including save percentage (.864) and shutouts (7).

Behind a very stout Maroon and White defense, the Aussie recorded a double-digit save total on three occasions, including 13 stops in MSU's 1-0 victory over No. 25-Missouri, marking the program's first win over a nationally-ranked opponent. The output preceded her second consecutive SEC Defensive Player of the Week laurel.

A first team all-SEC, SEC all-freshman team and SEC Freshman of the Year honoree in her initial season in Starkville, Marzotto also earned national player of the week awards on three occasions. She earned a pair of those honors from Soccer America, the last of which came following MSU's draw at Oxford in which the netminder tallied a season high 15 saves.

Facing its most difficult schedule in school history, Mississippi State posted its second winning season under the guidance of fourth year head coach Neil McGuire this past season. The Bulldogs tallied a 3-3-1 record against eventual NCAA Tournament teams during the 2003 season, including a Senior Night upset of sixth-ranked Florida at the MSU Soccer Field.

In seven games against NCAA Tournament teams, State allowed just four goals, while scoring three. The Bulldogs collected four shutouts against NCAA Tournament teams as well.

Women's Track and Field
LEXINGTON, Ky. ­ Mississippi State University's Crystal Averitt broke the school record in the 20-lb. weight throw with her mark of 54-9 1/4, recorded Friday at the Rod McCravy Memorial in Lexington, Ky. The record was previously held by Stacey Salmon-Rich with her 1998 distance of 54-5 1/4.

"I've been working really hard in practice and things have been going pretty well," said junior Averitt. "It all came together at this meet in one big throw. 50 feet has been my barrier, and I was just trying to get over it."

The final day of competition for the Lady Bulldogs will begin at 11 a.m. EST with the women's pole vault event.

2004 Rod McCravy Memorial

High Jump
9. Renata Hendrix 5-4 1/4
t10. Jasmine Walls 5-2 1/4

Weight Throw
4. Crystal Averitt 54-9 1/4
13. Jennifer Johnstone 47-4 1/2
15. Nicola Wilson 45-6 1/4
22. Christina Hernandez 36-10 1/2

Source: MSU Media Relations

01/30/04
Men's Tennis
JACKSON, Miss. - Though the team score indicated a 4-0 victory for seventh-ranked Mississippi over 44th-ranked Mississippi State Thursday night in the River Hills Cup, the individual scores in the seventh-annual battle told a slightly different story.

The match, which saw the Rebels win for the 12th consecutive time over State, featured two tiebreakers, five sets that were decided by 6-4 or 7-6 scores, and State held one-set leads at the No. 4 and 5 positions when the Rebels finally clinched the match at 4-0 and play was suspended at that point.

The Rebels grabbed the early lead in the contest by claiming the doubles point, sparked by an 8-1 win from Paul Ciorascu and Catalin Gard over Bulldogs Romain Ambert and Florent Girod at the No. 1 position. The other two matches were both on serve at 4-4 when the top position was clinched, but UM would ultimately claim an 8-5 victory at No. 3. At that point, play was suspended on court No. 2, where the teams were knotted at 6-6.

Mississippi would then register wins at the top three singles positions to tally the four points it needed for the victory, although it would take them nearly three hours to finally finish off the underdog Bulldogs in those three contests.

Putting UM up 2-0 was Ciorascu, ranked 70th nationally, who downed State's Jose-Carlos Pinto 6-4, 6-1 at the No. 2 position.The Rebels took a 3-0 lead when 49th-ranked Claes Lindholm held off a fierce upset bid from Bulldog Luiz Carvalho in a close 6-4, 7-6(5) decision at No. 3.

In the decisive match at the No. 1 spot, Gard, ranked 20th in the country, would upset State's fourth-ranked Ambert in a grueling contest 7-6(3), 4-6, 6-2. After claiming the second set, Ambert began battling leg cramps in the third set, hampering his play in the third.

Bulldogs Max Fomine and Girod had gained a one-set lead in their respective matches at the No. 4 and 5 positions when the match was clinched.

"We had chances in doubles and we lost two close matches in singles that could have given us a big advantage going into the matches at the bottom positions," MSU head coach Sylvain Guichard said. "We played better than we did at Baylor last week, but the bottom line is, we still lost the match. We've got to work on getting back to the level that we used to be on where we don't just come close against the top 10 teams, but actually get over the hump and beat them. We have two weeks until our next match and we are going to work hard on winning the matches we are coming close in now."

The Bulldogs will start a five-match homestand Thursday, Feb. 12, hosting UAB at 2 p.m. MSU will entertain 26th-ranked Tulane two days later, on Valentine's Day, at 1 p.m.

Women's Track and Field
STARKVILLE, Miss. ­ Mississippi State University's women's track and field team travels to Lexington, Ky., Fri., Jan. 30, for the Rod McCravy Memorial. The two-day event will be held at the UK Nutter Fieldhouse and will start at 6 p.m. EST on Friday, with action beginning on Saturday, at 10:30 a.m. EST.

"We are going into this meet with a little more preparation than we had in Arkansas," said head coach Al Schmidt. "It's going to be good to see where we are."

MSU holds the UK Nutter Fieldhouse Indoor Record in the distance medley relay set last year by Jennifer McPherson, Nicole Dunn, Zita Magloire and Tiffany McWilliams. The team ran the relay in a school record time of 11:18.04, also setting a NCAA Automatic Qualifying time. They will defend their title Friday, at 7:30 p.m. EST.

The meet is named after Rodriq McCravy, a former track athlete at the University of Kentucky who died while sleeping in his dorm room at the age of 19. He was a two-time state champion in Kentucky in the 300-meter hurdles and while at UK, McCravy set a UK freshman record in the 400-meter hurdles and was a member of the then-school record setting 1600-meter relay team. The event has been held every year since the opening of the Nutter Field House in 1993.

Source: MSU Media Relations

01/25/04
Men's Tennis
ENNIS, Texas - Mississippi State's men's tennis team had a tough season-opening test Saturday at Baylor, as the extremely talented Bears backed up their preseason No. 2 ranking by downing the 41st-ranked Bulldogs 6-1. Due to inclement weather, the match was moved 70 miles north, from Waco to Ennis, to be played indoors at the Lion Tennis Center. The start of the match was delayed approximately one hour due to the shift in location.

With Saturday's win, Baylor took a 4-1 lead in the series with MSU, all five meetings having come in the last five years between the teams.

BU got on the board early in the match by taking the opening doubles point with 8-5 and 8-1 wins at the No. 1 and 3 positions, respectively. State's duo of Luiz Carvalho and Jose-Carlos Pinto salvaged the No. 2 spot with an 8-6 triumph over the Bear pair of Jason Gould and Matija Zgaga.

In singles, things did not improve much for the Bulldogs, as Baylor, which sports four top 100 players in its lineup (two in the top 5), posted wins in five of the six matches. MSU's lone point of the day came from true freshman Romain Provenzano at the No. 6 position, where he downed Adrian Szatmary 6-3, 6-3 in the first-ever dual match for either player.

BU was a straight-set winner at the top four positions. Third-ranked Benedikt Dorsch led the way for the Bears, downing State's fourth-ranked Romain Ambert 6-2, 6-1 at the top spot. At No. 5, Bulldog sophomore Florent Girod nabbed the first set over 79th-ranked Ivan Lovrak, but eventually fell 4-6, 6-1, 6-1.

"Baylor is a very, very good team. They are ranked No. 2 for a reason," MSU head coach Sylvain Guichard said. "We never like losing, but I'm not overly disappointed with our effort today, because we didn't beat ourselves. Baylor was just too good for us. We certainly have a lot of room for improvement, but we worked hard this week and gave a solid effort today."

State will now prepare for the seventh-annual River Hills Cup match, scheduled against sixth-ranked, arch-rival Mississippi in Jackson on Thursday. That battle is slated for a 5 p.m. start at River Hills Club. For ticket information, MSU fans can contact River Hills at 601-987-4438.

Source: MSU Media Relations

01/24/04
Men's Tennis
STARKVILLE, Miss. - Mississippi State men's tennis team will open its 2004 season Saturday, travelling to meet second-ranked Baylor in Waco. Match time between the Bulldogs and Bears is set for 2 p.m. CT at the Baylor Tennis Center.

The teams will be meeting for only the fifth time ever, but all four previous meetings have come in the past four years. BU owns a 3-1 advantage in the series, including a win in Starkville in last season's opener. State is 0-2 in its two previous trips to Waco.

MSU is led by senior all-American Romain Ambert, currently ranked fourth nationally in singles. Baylor has two players in the current top 5 in Benedikt Dorsch (3rd) and Benjamin Becker (5th). In doubles, Becker and Ivan Lovrak are ranked 16th in the country for the Bears. For MSU, Ambert and Florent Girod are tied for 32nd.

State enters 2004 looking for its 14th consecutive NCAA appearance. Only seven schools in the country have made 13 straight trips to the national championship field.

"We are excited to be starting our season," third-year MSU head coach Sylvain Guichard said. "Baylor will obviously be a very difficult test for us, as they are extremely talented. But if we work very hard, and focus on the things we have been doing in practice, we can challenge them. We played them tight in just about every match last season, so we know we can compete with them."

Following Saturday's contest, State will prepare for the seventh-annual River Hills Cup match, scheduled against sixth-ranked, arch-rival Mississippi in Jackson on Thursday. That battle is slated for a 5 p.m. start at River Hills Club. For ticket information, MSU fans can contact River Hills at 601-987-4438. Source: MSU Media Relations

01/23/04
Women's Tennis
STARKVILLE, Miss. ­ The Mississippi State University's women's tennis match against Louisiana-Monroe scheduled for Saturday, Jan. 24, at 1 p.m., has been canceled. State wins the match by forfeit.

The next match for the Lady Bulldogs will be Thursday, February 5, at 2:30 p.m. State will host 18th-ranked South Alabama at the A.J. Pitts Tennis Centre on the MSU campus.

Source: MSU Media Relations

The event will involve the U-17, U-19 and U-21 national teams, as well as the four U-19 regional teams. McGuire will coach the Region 3 team in friendly matches against Regions 1, 2 and 4 in an effort to expose these players to U-19 National Team coaches so that they may be selected for the United States team that will compete in the 2004 U-19 Women's World Cup.

The Region 3 players come from the 11 southeastern states. The Olympic Development Program, which is separated into four regions across the United States, is designed to mold and develop the best talent the country has to offer in an effort to keep the women's National team as the best team in the world in women's soccer.

"This is a tremendous honor for me because I will have the opportunity to coach the very best soccer players in this region, against the very best soccer players in other regions," McGuire said.

The competition will run from Thursday through Sunday. The 27,000-seat state-of-the-art Home Depot Center soccer stadium is the home of the MLS Cup Champion Los Angeles Galaxy. In addition, the facility serves as the training headquarters for the U.S. Soccer Federation's National Teams.

Source: MSU Media Relations

01/19/04
Men's Tennis
ATHENS, Ga. - Battling a recurring pain in his right wrist, Mississippi State's Romain Ambert, the No. 1 seed in singles at this weekend's Southeastern Conference Coaches' Indoor Championships, was upset in Sunday's quarterfinals. Due to his ailment, Ambert and partner Florent Girod also defaulted their quarterfinal-round doubles match that was scheduled for Sunday afternoon.

A Toulouse, France, native, Ambert dropped a 6-2, 6-3 decision to Florida's fifth-seeded and 24th-ranked Hamid Mirzadeh Sunday morning in singles. Mirzadeh now leads the series between the players 2-1 and has taken the last two meetings. The loss was only the fourth of the year for the MSU All-American, against 15 victories.

In doubles, Ambert and Girod, seeded third and ranked 32nd nationally in doubles, were to have played Mississippi's duo of Paul Ciorascu and Catalin Gard in Sunday's quarterfinals, but made the decision to default after Ambert's singles contest.

"First of all, Romain played a very good player today. Hamid was a top 10 player last year and will likely end up there again this season. He played a great match," MSU head coach Sylvain Guichard said. "Romain's wrist has bothered him off and on for much of his career and it just flared up again this weekend. He will be fine."

Ambert, Girod and the remainder of the Bulldog net squad will now turn their attention to this weekend's 2004 season-opening match at second-ranked Baylor. State and the Bears will square off in Waco, Texas, this Saturday, Jan. 24, at 2 p.m. Following that contest, MSU will meet sixth-ranked, arch-rival Mississippi in the seventh-annual River Hills Cup on Thursday, Jan. 29, at 5 p.m. at River Hills Club in Jackson.

Source: MSU Media Relations

01/18/04
Men's Tennis
ATHENS, Ga. - Mississippi State's Romain Ambert, the No. 1 seed in singles at this weekend's Southeastern Conference Coaches' Indoor Championships, moved into the tournament's quarterfinals with a triumph Saturday. Ambert and Bulldog teammate Florent Girod, seeded third in doubles, registered a pair of wins Saturday to move into the final eight in that draw.

The two-time, all-American Ambert, currently ranked fourth nationally, bested Vanderbilt's 10th-seeded and 46th-ranked Scott Brown 6-2, 6-4 Saturday in the round of 16. The win improved Ambert's record for the year to 15-3 overall, with 14 of his 15 victories having come in straight-set fashion.

Ambert will meet Florida's fifth-seeded and 24th-ranked Hamid Mirzadeh in Sunday's quarterfinal round (10 a.m. ET). The players will be meeting for the third time during their careers, having split the first two encounters. The winner of that contest will then take on the winner between Vanderbilt's 13th-seeded and 55th-ranked Chad Harris and Mississippi's 11th-seeded and 49th-ranked Claes Lindholm in the semifinals Sunday at 2 p.m. ET.

Ambert and Girod, ranked 32nd nationally in doubles, opened action in the 32-team field Saturday afternoon with an 8-4 win over Geraldo Knorr and Pedro Rodrigues of South Carolina. The State tandem then held off LSU's team of Danny Bryan and Cory Ross 9-8(3) in the round of 16 later in the day. Ambert and Girod will meet Mississippi's duo of Paul Ciorascu and Catalin Gard in Sunday's quarterfinals.

In MSU's other two doubles contests on the day, the Bulldogs fell in both matches to seeded teams. Senior Max Fomine and freshman Romain Provenzano, playing together for the first time ever, dropped an 8-4 decision to Vanderbilt's fourth-seeded and 45th-ranked tandem of Zach Dailey and Lewis Smith. Luiz Carvalho and Jose-Carlos Pinto were downed 8-5 by Mississippi's pair of Erik Claesson and Lindholm, a 5-8 alphabetical seed.

Source: MSU Media Relations

Singles matches were played first. The first team to win four points won the match.

At No. 2, Marcelle Hirt defeated Christine Majchrowicz 7-5, 6-2, winning the first point for MSU. Anastasia Kugakolova fell in a tough match to Centenary's Anja Schmidt, 7-5, 6-2, on court one. Senior Yumi Ueda shut out her opponent Heather Kelley, 6-0, 6-0, playing at the third spot.

Hayley Rudman won her first match as a Lady Bulldog. Rudman was victorious over Brandy Smith in a 6-2, 6-1 decision. Justyna Switala took the match on court five, 6-1, 6-0, over Centenary's Elizabeth Pitts to give State its fourth point.

Next, the Lady Bulldogs will face Louisiana-Monroe on Jan. 24, at 1 p.m., at the A.J. Pitts Tennis Centre.

Source: MSU Media Relations

01/17/04
Track and Field
STARKVILLE, Miss. ­ Mississippi State University's women's indoor track and field team traveled to Fayetteville, Ark., on Friday for the Arkansas Invitational. The athletes competed for NCAA qualifying marks, not a team score.

"Cassie Hanan had a great race, setting a personal best," said head coach Al Schmidt. "Nicola Wilson also had a good meet. There were no great, outstanding performances the whole meet by any of the teams that were there. We will regroup in two weeks and get some training in."

Hanan set a personal best in the 3000-meter run by almost seven seconds with her 10:23.79 performance, finishing in fourth. In her first meet as a Lady Bulldog, Nicola Wilson took 13th in the weight throw with a mark of 44-001/2.

Junior Tiffany McWilliams finished runner-up in the mile run with a time of 4:48.13. Also competing in the mile run, Jennifer McPherson (5:14.41), Zita Magloire (5:14.90) and Joy Griffith (5:21.31) finished 11th, 12th and 13th, respectively.

In the unseeded 3000m, Michelle Kinney ran an 11:04.68 to finish in sixth place. Clinton, Miss., native, Renata Hendrix jumped 5-21/4 in the high jump, tying for the sixth spot. Seniors Nicole Dunn and Kia James crossed the finish line in the 200-meter dash within seven-tenths of a second of each other to finish ninth and 10th, respectively.

Lizzie Grube, in her first season at State, took seventh in the 800-meter run in 2:22.31. Crystal Averitt throw the weight a distance of 46-71/4 to finish in 10th.

Next, the squad travels to Lexington, Ky., for the Rod McCravy Memorial. The two-day event begins on Friday, Jan. 30.

The two-time, all-American Ambert, currently ranked fourth nationally, downed LSU's Peter Richman 6-1, 6-4 in Friday's second round after a receiving a first-round bye. Though Richman is not ranked at present due to missing the fall season with an injury, he was rated No. 36 in the nation in the September poll.

Ambert, who improved to 14-3 overall for 2003-04, will meet Vanderbilt's 10th-seeded and 46th-ranked Scott Brown Saturday in the round of 16. The two players have never met.

In other play Friday, State sophomore Jose-Carlos Pinto split a pair of contests. Pinto, who transferred to State in the summer from Hampton University, opened the day with a 4-6, 6-1, 6-0 comeback win over LSU's Sebastian Rutka, who was rated 89th in the September rankings. Pinto then fell 6-1, 6-3 to Vanderbilt's sixth-seeded and 27th-ranked Matt Lockin in the second round.

Bulldog junior Luiz Carvalho dropped a heartbreaking decision to Kentucky's 79th-ranked Evan Austin in the first round. After falling in the first set, Austin rebounded to claim the match, which lasted approximately three hours, 4-6, 7-6(5), 6-4.

"We had a good day today overall," MSU head coach Sylvain Guichard said. "Romain played well for his first match of the spring in a tough matchup. Luiz played very well against a good player in Austin. And Jose-Carlos got a solid win. Combined with some good efforts yesterday, we are making a lot of progress at this early stage of the season."

In addition to the round of 16 of singles, doubles competition will get underway Saturday, with three Bulldog pairs entered in the 32-team field. Ambert and partner Florent Girod, ranked 32nd nationally as a duo, are the No. 3 seed. State's other teams will be Carvalho pairing with Pinto and senior Max Fomine joining forces with freshman Romain Provenzano.

Source: MSU Media Relations

"We are really excited to be opening at home this weekend," said Lane. "It will give us an idea of where we are as a team and give us some common goals to work toward to better prepare us for the remainder of the season."

Lane will send seniors Marcelle Hirt, Justyna Switala and Yumi Ueda, junior Magdi Rekasi, sophomore Anastasia Kugakolova and freshmen Hayley Rudman and Tarryn Rudman to the courts for the Maroon and White.

The Lady Bulldogs defeated the Ladies last season 6-1 in Starkville.

State will face Louisiana-Monroe in its next match on Jan. 24, at 1 p.m., at the A.J. Pitts Tennis Centre.

Source: MSU Media Relations

"We are thrilled to have the opportunity to bring one of our own back to direct the Mississippi State volleyball program," said Templeton. "Tina not only has a great understanding of our university but also has the leadership qualities to lead our volleyball program to the next level."

A four-year volleyball letterwinner and former All-SEC standout at Mississippi State University, Seals, returns to Mississippi State University following a successful 12-year run as head volleyball coach at Northwest-Shoals Community College in Muscle Shoals, Ala. She compiled a 444-137 record (.764) in 12 seasons, guiding the NWSCC Patriots to the National Junior College Athletic Association Division II national volleyball tournament seven times and earning top 10 ranking the past four seasons.

"I'm very excited about having the opportunity to coach at Mississippi State University," said Seals. "I feel like I'm going back home. During my years as a player I developed a love for the Starkville community, Mississippi State University and the university's athletic program. Coaching in one of the nation's strongest athletic conferences is a big challenge, and I am thrilled and grateful to Larry Templeton and Samye Johnson for the opportunity to return to coach at my alma mater."

Seals, a native of Florence, Ala., signed a volleyball scholarship with Mississippi State University in 1981 following a stellar high school career at Bradshaw High School. She shared the distinction of being MSU's first four-year letterwinner in volleyball, served as captain of coach Vivian Langley's Bulldog teams in 1982, 1983 and 1984, and in 1984 became Mississippi State volleyball's first All-Southeastern Conference selection. She was also a two-year letterwinner on the MSU softball team. Seals launched her coaching career as an undergraduate assistant on Langley's Mississippi State staff before earning a bachelor's degree in civil engineering in 1987. She later earned her masters degree in math education at the University of North Alabama.

"Coach Seals is an outstanding individual and coach," said MSU Associate Athletic Director for Women's Sports Samye Johnson. "There is no doubt in my mind about her ability to make our volleyball program a successful one both in the SEC and on the national level. It's a great day for our volleyball program and we are happy to welcome Tina back home to Mississippi State."

Seals was appointed head coach at Northwest-Shoals Community College in 1992, the inaugural year for volleyball at NWSCC, and quickly built the program into a perennial power in the Alabama junior college ranks. During that span she earned Alabama Junior College Coach of the Year honors six times, helped develop nine players that earned all-America team accolades, and tutored nearly 50 players that advanced their careers with athletic scholarships at four-year colleges and universities.

She is married to Tony Seals, a native of Winfield, Ala., and a 1986 alumnus of Mississippi State. They are the parents of a daughter, Tracey Marie, age 13.

Source: MSU Media Relations

01/16/04
Volleyball
STARKVILLE, Miss. - Six of the 12 members of Mississippi State University's 2003 volleyball team have been named to the 2003-04 Fall SEC Academic Honor Roll. The academic all-conference team, which includes 467 student-athletes competing in football, volleyball and soccer from the 12 SEC institutions, was announced Thursday by SEC Commissioner Mike Slive.

Among Mississippi State's 37 fall honorees are volleyball seniors Hilary Chambers of Highlands Ranch, Colo. (3.22, Physical Education), Jennifer Hadden of Marysville, Mich. (3.60, Communication), Jennifer Rousey of Champaign, Ill. (3.93, Communication, English and French) and Tanika Taylor of Rowlett, Texas (3.15, Marketing).

Also earning placement on the academic honor squad are junior Andrea Mead of Louisville, Ky. (3.09, Communication) and sophomore Rachel Cooper of Roscoe, Ill. (3.51, Elementary Education). Cooper was named to the inaugural SEC Freshman Academic Honor Roll for the 2002 season last November.

The Volleyball Bulldogs have placed 36 players on the SEC Academic Honor Roll over the past five seasons.

Source: MSU Media Relations

This meet will be a non-scored event meaning that competitors will compete for NCAA qualifying marks, but not for a team score. The field will include #1 LSU, #6 Arkansas, Mississippi, Missouri Southern and Southwest Missouri State.

The meet will begin at noon with the men's weight throw and should conclude around 9 p.m. The women's high jump, starting at 1 p.m., is the first schedule event for the Lady Bulldogs.

The Lady Bulldogs are ranked in a tie for 24th in the preseason poll released by the Trackwire 25 Tuesday.

Source: MSU Media Relations

The 2003-04 SEC Fall Academic Honor Roll is based on grades from the Fall, 2003 semester.

The Bulldogs sent 10 or more athletes to the honor roll for the second-straight year and for the fourth time since 1997, bringing the total number of soccer athletes honored to 73 in the nine seasons that soccer players have been eligible for the award.

Kristen Benefield (Southaven, Miss., 3.56 in Physical Education), Morgan McDonald (Benson, N.C., 3.46 in Marketing), Amber Meesey (Arlington, Texas, 3.45 in Communication), Karen Sandrik (Orlando, Fla., 3.74 in Secondary Education), midfielders April Berry (Arlington, Texas, 3.70 in Physical Education), Elke D¹Hollander (Ghent, Belgium, 3.51 in Physical Education), Becca Edwards (Knoxville, Tenn., 3.57 in Marketing), Allison Mullen (Greenville, Miss., 3.23 in Secondary Education), Kristin Peterson (Arlington, Texas, 3.32 in Accounting), Amber Rose (Germantown, Tenn., 3.83 in Psychology) and Meghan Odom (Flowood, Miss., 3.24 in General Business Administration) were State¹s honorees.

The Bulldog soccer team was recently honored with the National Soccer Coaches Association of America's (NSCAA) team academic award for achieving a 3.22 team GPA during the 2002-03 academic year. D'Hollander, one of MSU's seven seniors, was also lauded with third team NSCAA Scholar all-America honors.

Source: MSU Media Relations

Bulldog seniors Matt Armstrong and Max Fomine both registered straight-set, opening-round wins before falling in the final round of qualifying in tough three-set affairs. Armstrong was a 7-5, 6-1 winner over Joseph Lariscy of host Georgia before dropping a 2-6, 6-1, 6-1 decision to Tennessee's Kiril Tcherveniachki. Fomine held off Auburn's Robert Lathouwers 7-5, 7-6(5) to open the day, but then lost a 6-2, 3-6, 6-1 outcome to Georgia's Matic Omerzel.

In other action, Bulldog underclassmen Florent Girod and Romain Provenzano both dropped three-set battles in the first round after taking the opening set in their respective contests. The sophomore Girod fell in a tight 4-6, 7-6(3), 6-3 affair with Auburn's Alex Schweizer. The true freshman Provenzano, playing in his first match as a Bulldog, was a 4-6, 6-3, 6-1 victim of LSU's Cory Ross.

Play continues in the tournament Friday, with the first two rounds of the 64-player singles main draw. State has three players entered in the field - Romain Ambert, Luiz Carvalho and Jose-Carlos Pinto. The senior all-American Ambert, ranked fourth nationally, is the top seed and will receive a first-round bye. Carvalho and Pinto will start action Friday morning.

Doubles competition will commence Saturday, with three Bulldog pairs entered in the 32-team field. Ambert and Girod, ranked 32nd nationally as a duo, are the No. 3 seed.

Source: MSU Media Relations

01/15/04
STARKVILLE, Miss. ­ Members of Mississippi State's men's tennis team will open play in the 2004 Southeastern Conference Coaches' Indoor Tennis Championships Thursday in Athens, Ga. The annual league tournament, which will be held at Georgia's Dan Magill Tennis Complex, will run through Monday.

State will have seven players in action this weekend. Returning lettermen Romain Ambert, Matt Armstrong, Luiz Carvalho, Max Fomine, and Florent Girod will join transfer Jose-Carlos Pinto and true freshman Romain Provenzano in competition.

The senior all-American Ambert, currently ranked fourth nationally, is this weekend's top-seeded player in singles. He enters his final semester at MSU with a 92-33 overall singles record and is 10 wins shy of State's all-time top 10 for overall victories as well.

Armstrong, Fomine, Girod and Provenzano will compete in Thursday's qualifying draw. Girod and Provenzano are among the top eight seeds in the qualifies, which will feed eight players into the weekend's 64-player main draw.

Two rounds of singles will be held Friday, with one round of singles and the opening two rounds of doubles to follow on Saturday. Sunday will feature the singles and doubles quarter- and semifinals. Both title contests will be held Monday.

Source: MSU Media Relations

1/13/04 (4:45 p.m.)
STARKVILLE, Miss. - Mississippi State's men's tennis team is ranked No. 41 nationally in the 2004 preseason Intercollegiate Tennis Association Rankings, released Tuesday by the ITA. Senior Romain Ambert is the nation's fourth-ranked player in singles.

State, which made its 13th consecutive NCAA Championship appearance last season (one of only seven teams in the country to do so), will be looking to continue that streak in '04. Five lettermen (Ambert, Matt Armstrong, Luiz Carvalho, Max Fomine and Florent Girod) return for the Bulldogs in 2004, all but one of which are juniors and seniors. A transfer and four freshmen have joined the team as well.

"We are very excited about this season," MSU head coach Sylvain Guichard said. "Everyone is healthy and ready to start working hard. We have a great nucleus returning from last season and some very talented newcomers. We feel that we have a good chance to get our program back to the level of play we have been accustomed to in the past."

Ambert, a two-time, all-American, was one spot off of his career-high ranking of No. 3 Tuesday. The Toulouse, France, product went 13-3 in the fall, with 12 of his 13 victories coming in straight sets. He was one of only two players in the country to reach the quarterfinals of the two major tournaments during the term. The other was Ohio State's Jeremy Wurtzman, now the nation's top-ranked player.

During his three-plus years on campus, Ambert has compiled a 92-33 singles record, the fifth-most wins in school history. He is also an impressive 55-38 in doubles, giving him 147 career victories overall, just 10 triumphs away from State's career top 10 in overall wins.

State also had one doubles team ranked in Tuesday's poll, as Ambert and Girod came in tied for 32nd in the country.

The Bulldog netters will begin the 2004 spring slate this weekend (Jan. 15-19) at the SEC Indoor Championships in Athens, Ga. State opens this year's dual match season Saturday, Jan. 24, at No. 2 Baylor.

Source: MSU Media Relations

01/13/04
The Trackwire 25 for Women, including team rankings and projected national meet scores (MSU is tied for 24/25th):

1. LSU, 71
2. Texas, 48
2. Florida, 48
4. Stanford, 32
5. UCLA, 30
6. Arkansas, 29
7. North Carolina, 28
7. Nebraska, 28
9. Colorado, 22
10. South Carolina, 20
10. BYU, 20
10. West Virginia, 20
13. Tennessee, 19
13. Kansas State, 19
15. Georgia, 17
16. Baylor, 16
16. Florida State, 16
18. Providence, 15
19. Miami, 12
19. Georgia Tech, 12
21. Notre Dame, 11
22. Penn State, 9
22. Arizona, 9
24. Clemson, 8
24. Mississippi State, 8
24. Kent State, 8