03/29/04
Men's Tennis
The 26th ranked MSU's men's tennis team lost to No. 13 ranked LSU, 6-1, at Baton Rouge.

The Bulldogs travel to Gainesville Friday to meet the 10th ranked Florida Gators. From there, they travel to Columbia for a Sunday match against South Carolina.

Next, State hosts the Gators of Florida in a 2:30 p.m. match on Friday, April 2 at the A.J. Pitts Tennis Centre.

03/28/04
Track and Field
Mississippi State's men's team won the 2004 Bulldog Invitational. Indiana State University was second. The women finished runner-up behind Southwest Missouri State.

The Bulldogs set nine regional qualifying marks on the day, while the Lady Bulldogs recorded two regional qualifying marks.

Mississippi State travels to Austin, Texas, this coming Wednesday for the Texas Relays.

Mississippi State, now 21-18 and 3-11 in SEC action, won the first game 8-0 behind a 15-hit offensive onslaught.

First game hitting heroes included Jennifer Waterman, who went 2-for-4 with two home runs. Kate Jaspers went 3-for-5 while driving in two runs. Iyhia McMichael went 2-for-4 while Meagan O'Nan was 2-for-3.

Reliever Stephanie Comeaux (7-4), who came in in relief of starter Melissa Massey in the 4th inning, earned the victory after striking out five and allowing no runs on five hits in her four innings of work.

03/27/04
Women's Tennis
The Mississippi State women's tennis team won their first SEC match of the season against No. 70 Arkansas in a 4-3 road decision on Friday.

Next, State returns home Sunday to host the No. 25 LSU Lady Tigers in a 1 p.m. match.

MSU record falls to 7-6 overall and 2-3 in the SEC. Arkansas's record improved to 11-4 and 2-2 in SEC play.

MSU will now travel to Baton Rouge to meet the 13th ranked LSU Tigers in a 1 p.m. Sunday match.

03/26/04
Softball
Mississippi State's softball team, now 20-17 overall and 2-10 in SEC play, will began a three-game SEC series against Kentucky (15-16-1, 3-12 SEC) in Lexington, Ky Saturday. The teams play a doubleheader Saturday at 1 p.m. with the final game Sunday at 1 p.m.

From Lexington, State travels to Auburn next weekend for another SEC series battle.

Friday is Senior Day for three Bulldog netmen, Romain Ambert, Matt Armstrong and Max Fomine

Following the match, the 26th ranked Bulldogs go on the road to meet the 13th-ranked LSU Tigers in Baton Rouge Sunday at 1 p.m.

On Sunday, the Lady Bulldogs return home to host the LSU Lady Tigers in a match set to begin at 1 p.m. at the A.J. Pitts Tennis Centre.

03/22/04
Track and Field
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. ­ Mississippi State University's men's track and field team took runner-up at the Alabama Relays this weekend with 46 points. The women's team finished in sixth with 20 points.

"It was a good meet on the men's side," said head coach Al Schmidt. "We made a few mistakes that cost us some wins in the overall meet. The women's distance team also had a great meet, winning two of the relays. Our throwers performed well this weekend too. Overall, it was a good meet for the squads."

State's men competed in seven relays at the meet, finishing second in three of them. The 4x100m relay team of Eliott Morant, Jamel Ashley, Keston Nelson and LaChristopher Lewis set a regional qualifying mark in the event with their time of 40.61 for fourth. Ashley, Arthur Davis, Kendall Pyant II and Lewis, MSU's 4x400m relay team, finished in second place with their regional qualifying time of 3:06.56.

In the 4x110m shuttle hurd, Trey Hardee, Morant, Courtney Davis and Brad Rowland took second place in 59.80. Ashley, Glenn McFadden, A. Davis and Elmore McConnell finished runner-up in the sprint medley relay in 3:20.78. Statešs 4x800m relay team of Dustin Fier, Phillip Moore, Jason Odom and Ryan Irwin crossed the finish line in fourth in 7:49.20. Travis McKay, Hardee, Odom and Moore were MSU's distance medley relay team that finished in 10:34.79 for fourth place. Finishing in fifth, the 4x1500m relay team of McKay, Brett Marlin, Brandon Smith and Moore recorded a time of 16:35.34.

Junior Matt Denton tied for fourth with his high jump mark of 6-6 3/4. Chris Withrow vaulted 14-9 in the pole vault for a third place showing. JD Erickson won the shot put with his mark of 52-11 1/2 and finished in fifth in the discus with a 165-7. Matt Whalen took second in the shot put with his career-best mark of 52-6.

For the Lady Bulldogs, the distance medley relay team of Zita Magloire, Nicole Dunn, Tiffany McWilliams and Jennifer McPherson took top honors in the event with a time of 11:45.91. McPherson, Mina Thorstenson, McWilliams and Joy Griffith won the 4x1500m relay, recording a time of 18:47.44.

In the hammer, Crystal Averitt took fourth with her mark of 171-4, and Jen Johnstone finished in seventh with a distance of 149-2. Freshman Christina Hernandez recorded a personal best mark with a 125-2 in the event. Michelle Kinney set a career best mark in the javelin with her throw of 117-1.

Next, State hosts the Bulldog Invitational, the first of two home track meets, on Saturday, March 27 at the W.O. Spencer Stadium / Carl Maddox Track.

Source: MSU Media Relations

State's duo of Hayley Rudman and Tarryn Rudman won their match at No. 2 over Majen Immink and Breanna Kray in an 8-6 decision, winning their first SEC match of the season. At No. 1, Anastasia Kugakolova and Magdi Rekasi fell 8-1 to Tennessee's Tammy Encina and Melissa Schaub. Marcelle Hirt and Justyna Switala dropped their match to Blakeley Griffith and Sabita Maharaj at the third spot, 8-4.

In singles, Yumi Ueda won the only point for the Lady Bulldogs with her victory at No. 6 over Lady Vol Breanna Kray in a 4-6, 7-5, (12-10) decision. At No. 1, Hirt fell 6-3, 6-2 to No. 24 Tammy Encina. Kugakolova dropped her match to 73rd-ranked Sabita Maharaj, 6-3, 6-1, at the second position.

Rekasi faced Griffith at No. 3 and fell 6-4, 6-0 in the match. Tarryn Rudman dropped her match at the fourth spot to Immink 6-4, 6-3. At No. 5, Hayley Rudman was defeated by Victoria Jones in a 6-0, 6-4 decision.

Next, the Lady Bulldogs travel to Fayetteville, Ark., to take on the Lady Razorbacks in a 3 p.m. match on Friday, March 26.

Source: MSU Media Relations

Sunday's setback dropped State's record to 7-5 overall, 2-2 in Southeastern Conference action. UT improved to 9-4, 2-2. The Vols now lead MSU 25-11 in the series in recorded history (since 1969), 13-5 in Starkville.

In doubles, UT actually gained the early edge, winning 8-1 at the No. 3 spot, but MSU would rally to claim the final two matches. At No. 2, 49th-ranked Bulldogs Romain Ambert and Florent Girod notched a remarkable win, coming back from a 5-0, three-service break deficit to claim a 9-7 win over UT's 47th-ranked team of Mark Dietrich and Wade Orr. At the top spot, MSU's Luiz Carvalho and Jose-Carlos Pinto then took a heated battle from Vols Simon Rea and Damien Spizzo, finally posting a 9-8(6) tiebreak victory to give State the first point.

But singles would be a much different story, as Tennessee claimed the first set in five of the six matches to position itself for the team win. MSU's top player Ambert, ranked 13th nationally, sat out singles play for the second straight outing, still battling an ankle injury.

UT tied the score at 1-1 with a 6-4, 6-2 triumph provided by Dietrich over MSU freshman Arnaud Roussel at the No. 5 spot. The Vols gained a 2-1 lead when the 79th-ranked Orr bested Bulldog rookie Romain Provenzano 6-3, 6-2 at the bottom position in the lineup. Ockie Oosthuizen upped the lead to 3-1 when he downed MSU's Max Fomine 6-1, 6-4 at No. 3.

The Bulldogs got their first point of singles action at the top position, where the sophomore Pinto registered a 7-6(4), 6-1 win over Rea, ranked 42nd in the country. It marked the highest ranked win of Pinto's career.

In the final two matches of the day, UT had claimed the first set in both contests, and was up a service break in both in the second set as well, before MSU made a late charge to even things. After State's Carvalho had broken serve to tie the score at 5-5 at the No. 2 spot, UT's Spizzo answered with a break of his own and held off the MSU junior's comeback attempt for a 6-4, 7-5 win that clinched the team win for the Vols.

In the last match of the day, MSU's Girod rallied to post a 4-6, 7-5, 6-3 win over Vol Kiril Tcherveniachki at the No. 4 spot. It marked only the fourth loss for the UT freshman this season while the Bulldog sophomore won for the eighth time in his last nine outings.

"I was very proud of our guys' effort today," MSU head coach Sylvain Guichard said. "Tennessee is a very talented team and we had chances to beat them. It was tough without Romain in there for us in singles, but the rest of the team really stepped up. There were some positives today. We worked hard to win the doubles point. Jose-Carlos had one of his biggest wins so far. And Florent continued the great play he has been having this season.

"Now, we just have to get Romain healthy and focus on the remainder of the season. We have our last home match against Arkansas this weekend, another team that will be tough to beat."

The Bulldogs and 24th-ranked Razorbacks will meet this Friday, March 26, at 2 p.m. at the Pitts Tennis Centre. It will be Senior Day for Bulldogs Ambert, Matt Armstrong and Fomine.

Source: MSU Media Relations

03/21/04
Track and Field
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. ­ Mississippi State University's men's and women's track and field teams competed at the Alabama Relays on Saturday. The Bulldogs and Lady Bulldogs set 15 career-best marks at the meet.

"The highlight of the day for us was the women's discus," said head coach Al Schmidt. "They did very, very well. Now, we just wait for the big day tomorrow."

MSU's women's discus throwers Crystal Averitt, Christina Hernandez and Jen Johnstone finished second, third and fourth, respectively, in the event. Averitt came within two inches of breaking the school record she set as a freshman. Hernandez set a career-best mark with her throw of 139-9 1/4. Nicola Wilson also set a career top distance with her 128-10.

In the shot put, Wilson took third with her 44-11 1/2 mark, and Hernandez finished in sixth with a 42-2. Both distances were career-bests.

Tying for seventh, Renata Hendrix and Jasmine Walls both cleared the high jump at 5-4 1/4, a career-best for Walls. Michelle Kinney took eighth in the 3000-meter steeplechase in 11:58.70. In the 100-meter hurdles, Lauren Johnson recorded a wind-aided mark of 14.39 for eighth place.

On the men's side, Trey Hardee (10.56w) and Damond Berry (10.70w) recorded career top times in the 100-meter dash. Hardee finished in seventh place. Freshman Daniel Nolan finished in eighth place in the 400-meter hurdles with his career-best time of 54.71.

Matt Holcomb and Matt Whalen took second and third, respectively, in the hammer throw. Holcomb threw a 179-6, and Whalen's mark measured 174-11. Senior Clay Garner finished in fifth with his mark of 181-2 in the javelin.

Other MSU athletes that set career best marks were Kevin Sewell and Nolan in the 110-meter hurdles, Berry in the 200m, Mitchell Evans in the 400m hurdles, Gedamu Ege in the 5000m and Kendall Pyant II in the long jump.

The final day of competition at the Alabama Relays begins at 8 a.m. on Sunday, with the women's hammer throw.

Source: MSU Media Relations

03/20/04
Track and Field
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. ­ Mississippi State University's Jackie Rentschler was the only MSU athlete competing on day one of the Alabama Relays in Tuscaloosa, Ala., on Friday. She took eleventh in the 10,000-meter run in her career fastest time of 41:08.37.

The majority of the events at the Sam Bailey Track and Field Complex will be held on Saturday and Sunday. Saturday's competition for Mississippi State begins at 8:00 a.m. with the men's hammer throw.

Source: MSU Media Relations

Women's Tennis
ATHENS, Ga. ­ The Mississippi State University women's tennis team dropped their first match of the weekend to the No. 2 Bulldogs of Georgia, 7-0, on Friday at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex.

MSUšs Anastasia Kugakolova and Magdi Rekasi dropped their doubles match at No. 1 to the No. 4 ranked duo of Agata Cioroch and Shadisha Robinson in an 8-4 decision. At No. 2, Hayley Rudman and Tarryn Rudman fell 8-3 to Evgenia Subbotina and Jitka Schonfeldova. Marcelle Hirt and Justyna Switala were defeated by Natalie Frazier and Douglas Wink, 8-3, at the third spot.

In singles action, Hirt fell 6-4, 6-1 to Georgiašs fourth-ranked Cioroch on court one. Kugakolova dropped her match at the second spot to No. 70 Subbotina, 6-4, 6-7, 1-0(3). At No. 3, Rekasi fell 6-2, 6-2 to No. 10 Robinson.

Freshman Tarryn Rudman fell 7-5, 6-4 in a hard-fought match with Schonfeldova at the fourth spot. On court five, Switala was defeated by Wink in a 6-0, 6-0 decision. Hayley Rudman dropped her match 6-3, 6-3 to Alex Smith at the sixth position.

Next, State travels to Knoxville, Tenn., on Sunday to face the No. 29 Lady Vols of Tennessee. The match is set to begin at 1 p.m. ET.

Source: MSU Media Relations

UGA gained the first point of the day, sweeping doubles action. After UGA won at the bottom two spots, State's pair of Luiz Carvalho and Jose-Carlos Pinto gave the nation's fifth-ranked duo of Bo Hodge and John Isner a big challenge at No. 1, but eventually fell in a tiebreaker 9-8(5). Hodge and Isner remained undefeated (10-0) in dual matches this season.

In singles, State's lineup took a tough break before things even got started, as senior all-American Romain Ambert withdrew after doubles, still nursing an ankle injury that has limited his movement significantly in the last few matches. But even without Ambert in the lineup, things were fairly close early on.

Georgia won the first set at the top two positions, and MSU at No. 6, but the teams would go to tiebreakers to decide the early advantage in the other three contests. UGA, however, would claim two of those three breakers to position itself for the victory.

The Bulldogs from Athens took a 2-0 lead when 49th-ranked Matias Ormaza completed a 7-6(6), 6-1 win over MSU's Max Fomine at the No. 3 position. Fomine actually held a 6-2 lead in the tiebreaker to decide the first frame before Ormaza rallied to claim it 8-6. Georgia went up 3-0 when the true freshman Isner remained unbeaten in singles this spring as well, notching his 10th dual match triumph against with a 6-3, 6-4 win over State's Carvalho at No. 2.

The match-clincher for UGA would come at the top spot, where the three-time, all-American Hodge, ranked 12th in the country, won 6-4, 6-4, despite a solid upset effort from MSU's Pinto.

MSU claimed two of the final three points of the day, one via default at the No. 5 spot, and the other coming from sophomore Florent Girod, who won 7-6(4), 4-6, 1-0(4) at the No. 4 position over Matic Omerzel. It was Girod's sixth win in his last seven contests.

State returns to action Sunday, hosting 27th-ranked Tennessee another important SEC battle. The Bulldogs and Volunteers will square off at 1 p.m. at the Pitts Tennis Centre. MSU will then close out its 2004 home schedule this Friday, March 26, hosting 24th-ranked Arkansas.

Source: MSU Media Relations

03/17/04
Softball
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - Jennifer Waterman's routine grounder with two outs in the top of the sixth took a Mississippi State hop over Chattanooga shortstop Bryn Favor and rolled through the gap in right centerfield to allow a pair of runs to score and give the Bulldogs a 2-1 victory and the doubleheader sweep Tuesday evening in college softball action at Jim Frost Stadium in Chattanooga, Tenn.

MSU won the first game with four runs in each of the third and fifth innings to blow past Chattanooga, 9-0 in five innings, Tuesday afternoon.

Waterman proved to be the hero in the second game of the twinbill, driving in the pair of runs on a 1-for-2 showing at the plate and paced just three MSU (20-13) hitters with base hits. Despite scoring the gamewinning run, Iyhia McMichael had her season-long hit streak snapped at nine games after a 0-for-2 showing at the plate that included an intentional walk. Teri Herbert turned in a pair of hits on three trips to the plate while also driving in UTC's only run to pace the Lady Mocs (19-16) offense.

Mississippi State starter Melissa Massey (8-5) broke out of her two-game funk to pitch brilliantly for the Bulldogs, scattering six hits and striking out five over her ninth complete game of the campaign. Lacy Swarthout, who was tagged with four runs and seven hits in the twinbill opener, got off a little easier in her second outing of the day. Swarthout (12-11) took the loss in the nightcap despite surrendering no earned runs on three hits and a trio of strikeouts.

"The big key for us was that Melissa Massey pitched well," said Mississippi State head coach Jay Miller. "She hadn't pitched very well the last couple of games, but I thought she came out and did a good job for us today. We got some great at-bats at the plate in the first game, but I didn't think we came out and executed very well in the second. But, anytime you get two wins, it is a big step."

Engaged in a pitching duel through the first four-plus innings of play, Chattanooga used its short game to plate a run with two outs in the bottom half of the fifth which culminated with Herbert's bloop single scoring Grace Picket from second base for the 1-0 lead.

However, Mississippi State used an errant throw to get its leadoff batter, Hayle Guess on in the top of the sixth, then moved the Moss Point native into scoring position on Meagan O'Nan's sac bunt. The Lady Mocs appeared to get out of trouble after inducing Kate Jaspers to pop out to third base and intentionally walking McMichael, but it just set the stage for Waterman's dramatics.

Mississippi State will return to action this weekend when the Bulldogs return home to take on nationally ranked Tennessee in a three-game series at the Mississippi State Softball Field. Game time of Saturday's series-opening doubleheader with the Lady Vols has been slated with a noon start time, while Sunday's series finale is set for a 12:30 p.m. first pitch. Admission to all 2004 Mississippi State Softball home games is free.

MISSISSIPPI STATE 2, CHATTANOOGA 1

Mississippi State 000 002 0 - 2 3 0
Chattanooga 000 010 0 - 1 6 1

Massey and Brown. Whittier and Johnson. W - Massey (8-5). L - Swarthout (12-11). Save - None.

Source: MSU Media Relations

03/16/04
Women's Track and Field

STARKVILLE, Miss. ­ ESPN2 is set to televise the 2004 Indoor Track and Field Championships on Wednesday, March 17, at 2:30 p.m. MSU's Tiffany McWilliams was crowned the NCAA National Champion in the mile run with her career-fastest time of 4:32.24 to win the race, edging out last season's champion Johanna Nilsson of Northern Arizona.

McWilliams's performance ranks as the top time run by a United States athlete so far this season, according to the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) website. Her time is fourth in the world.

Source: MSU Media Relations

03/15/04
Men's Golf
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - Mississippi State moved up one spot on the final day of the Conrad Rehling Spring Invitational to finish 12th at Ol' Colony Golf Complex in Tuscaloosa, Ala.

The Bulldogs fired a final round 304 to finish two stokes ahead of Big 10 foe Michigan State. They finished the three-day tournament with a total score of 921.

Junior Joe Deraney posted his sixth top-20 finish with a final round two-over par 74. He finished in a four-way tie for 17th. He has finished as State's top-finisher in six of the seven events for MSU this season. Jared Jimenez turned in a career-best tournament finishing 35th. Jimenez carded a 77 to finish the event at five-over par. Daniel Boles shot a 78 to finish 51st, while Carl Sutton and Tim Satow rounded out the State lineup with 65th and 71st finishes respectively.

Alabama held off second place finisher Jacksonville State by two strokes. Kentucky, Mississippi, Kent State and Toledo rounded out the top five. Kentucky's John Holmes took home individual honors with a final round 71.

The Maroon and White will travel to Baton Rouge, La. on April 2-4 to compete in the LSU Spring Invitational. It will mark the second trip to LSU this season. MSU competed LSU/Country Club of Louisiana Intercollegiate during the fall campaign where they finished 13th.

Source: MSU Media Relations

03/13/04
Women's Track and Field
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. ­ Mississippi State University's Tiffany McWilliams is the 2004 NCAA Indoor Champion in the mile run. She crossed the finish line in her career-fastest time of 4:32.24 to win the race, edging out last season's champion Johanna Nilsson of Northern Arizona.

"I was happy with the race," said McWilliams. "It went well, but I was nervous coming into the race. My goal was just to make the rest of the girls run hard. And I tried to run the best that I could. It feels good to be the national champion and I'm happy for Mississippi State."

As a team, MSU finished tied for 17th, the school's highest finish in history. Florida's women took the team title with 47 points.

"It has been a tough season," said head coach Al Schmidt. "I am real proud of the way she hung in early in January and mid-February. Everything came around. She ran a great race today and responded when she had to. She made the other competitors run and run fast."

Next, the men's and women's outdoor squads head to Tuscaloosa, Ala., for the Alabama Relays being held March 19-21.

Men's Golf
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - Mississippi State's men's golf team slipped to 13th after day two of the Conrad Rehling Spring Invitational at Ol’ Colony Golf Complex in Tuscaloosa, Ala. Saturday. State fired its second highest round of the season with a 313.

Junior Joe Deraney had the best round for the Bulldogs. He fired a two-over par 75. He stands in 16th place heading in to the final day. The Statesboro, Ga. native will look for his sixth top-20 finish of the season. Tim Satow and Jared Jimenez both carded a 79. Jimenez fell to a tie for 28th after shooting even par on Friday. He was tied for 10th after the first 18 holes. Daniel Boles turned in an 80 for a two-round total of 155. Carl Sutton finished the day with a nine-over par 81.

Host Alabama leads the tournament after two days. The Crimson Tide fired a 287 to take a one shot advantage in to the final round over first round-leader Jacksonville State. No. 21 Kentucky jumped two spots to third after 36 holes. The Wildcat's John Holmes is the individual leader at six-under par. UA's Lars Brovold is one shot behind him at five-under par.

The Conrad Rehling Invitational will conclude Sunday with tee times beginning at 8 a.m.

Men's Tennis
MONTGOMERY, Ala. - In a very dramatic ending, Mississippi State's 27th-ranked men's tennis team rallied back from a 3-1 deficit to beat 44th-ranked Notre Dame in the teams' consolation match at the Big 10 Tires National Collegiate Classic Saturday. State had to fight back from a set down in two of the final three matches on court to claim the victory.

The win upped State's record to 7-3 overall. Notre Dame fell to 10-7. The Bulldogs were 0-4 against the Fighting Irish prior to Saturday's match, including an 0-2 mark at the Blue-Gray event. The schools were meeting for the first time since 1993. MSU's 7-3 start to this year is the best season beginning for the Bulldogs under third-year head coach Sylvain Guichard.

The Bulldogs jumped to a good start in the match, claiming the opening doubles point. After Notre Dame won 8-4 at the No. 3 position, State won the top two positions. At No. 2, the 49th-ranked MSU duo of Romain Ambert and Florent Girod broke serve in the last game of their match with Luis Haddock and Matthew Scott, ranked 29th, to win 8-6 and register their eighth consecutive win together. At No. 1, State's pair of Luiz Carvalho and Jose-Carlos Pinto posted an 8-5 victory over the 44th-ranked Fighting Irish team of Brent D'Amico and Ryan Keckley.

But Notre Dame would turn the match drastically in singles, claiming the first set in five of the six matches to mount a major advantage.

The Fighting Irish tied the score at 1-1 when Ambert was forced to retire at the No. 1 position, still battling an ankle injury. He had just lost the first set to Notre Dame's Haddock 6-2. UND took a 2-1 lead with a 6-3, 6-3 victory from Keckley at the No. 6 spot over MSU rookie Arnaud Roussel, who was playing his first career match for State. The Irish went up 3-1 with a 6-2, 6-2 triumph at the No. 4 spot by Stephen Bass, breaking Bulldog Max Fomine's five-match win streak.

In the remaining matches, State's Carvalho had claimed the first set at No. 3, while Pinto and Girod were both down a set at the No. 2 and 5 positions, respectively. Early in the second set, Carvalho turned his ankle, but kept playing. Last week's SEC Player of the Week, he would battle through the injury to go on and claim a 6-3, 6-2 win over D'Amico and cut the Irish lead to 3-2.

At that point, Girod and Pinto began to work their way back into their matches. Girod took the second set at No. 5 6-1. Meanwhile, Pinto grabbed the second frame at No. 2 6-2. Girod would quickly jump to a 4-0 lead in the final set and eventually take a 6-7(3), 6-1, 6-3 victory over Barry King to tie the team score at 3-3.

Pinto, after getting down 2-0 early in the third set, won the next five games for a 5-2, two-service break lead on UND's Scott. Fighting muscle cramps for much of the day, Pinto fell in the next two games, but then held serve at 5-4, finally winning his third match point chance for a 5-7, 6-2, 6-4 victory that clinched the incredible comeback win for the Bulldogs.

"I don't think I even have to say anything about this one," Guichard said. "Our backs were just about as far to the wall as they can get and we just never quit. This was another big win over a good team. Notre Dame worked just as hard to try and win this match. You have to give their guys credit as well for playing they way they did. This is a match neither team should have had to lose. We will now prepare to get back into our conference schedule with some very big home matches coming up."

The MSU netmen will return to Southeastern Conference action this weekend, hosting No. 18 Georgia this Friday, March 19, and No. 28 Tennessee Sunday, March 21. Both of those contests are slated for 1 p.m. starts at MSU's A.J. Pitts Tennis Centre. MSU will close out its 2004 home schedule Friday, March 26, hosting 23rd-ranked Arkansas.

Source: MSU Media Relations

03/12/04
Women's Track and Field
STARKVILLE, Miss. ­ Mississippi State University's Tiffany McWilliams travels to Fayetteville, Ark., on Friday, March 12 for the NCAA Indoor Championships to compete in the mile run.

The Championships will be held at the Randall Tyson Track Center for the fifth straight year. The prelims for the mile run will begin at 6:45 p.m. on Friday with the finals taking place on Saturday at 6:15 p.m.

In her last meet, McWilliams won the mile run at the SEC Indoor Championships in 4:35.91, the third fastest collegiate time in the country, defending her title from the 2003 Championships. With her performance, she broke the UK Nutter Fieldhouse record she set in the prelims and automatically qualified for the NCAA Championships. She also leads the SEC in the mile run on the Top Performance List produced by Direct Athletics.

At the 2003 NCAA Indoor Championships, McWilliams won the mile run in 4:35.21 and took runner-up in the 3000-meter run in a time of 9:27.09. She was also a member of MSUšs distance medley relay team that won the National Championship in 11:26.39.

Source: MSU Media Relations

The 54-hole, three-day event will be held at Ol' Colony Golf Complex. The Jerry Pate designed course is par 72. The tournament is named after former Alabama coach, Conrad Rehling, who led the Crimson Tide for 17 years.

The Bulldogs have been idle since competing in the Matlock Collegiate Classic in Lakeland, Fla., Feb. 16-17. State finished 11th in the 15-team field. Junior Joe Deraney turned in a career-best finish in the Matlock, posting a fourth place finish to lead all Bulldog linksters.

The Maroon and White lineup will be led by Deraney. The Statesboro, Ga. native has carded four finishes in the top-10 this season. He also leads the team in scoring with a 73.41 average. Freshman Jake Lambert will make his seventh start of the season. He ranks fourth on the squad in scoring with a 76 average.

This season's appearance in the University of Alabama-hosted event will mark MSU's fifth showing in the event. In 2003 the Bulldogs finished 13th in the event. Auburn won last year with a tournament total of 857, while James Lepp of Illinois was the medalist.

This year's tournament field includes six teams that are ranked in the top-50 in Golfweek/Sagarin's weekly rankings No. 21 Kentucky, No. 30 Georgia State, No. 39 Toledo, No. 42 Michigan State, No. 46 Jacksonville State, No. 47 Kent State, No. 50 UAB, Alabama, Notre Dame, North Florida, Michigan State, Mississippi and Tulane.

The first round will get underway at 8 a.m. on Friday.

Source: MSU Media Relations

Thursday's victory improved State's record to 6-2 on the season. Colorado fell to 5-6. The match was the first-ever meeting between the schools in men's tennis.

The Bulldogs gained the opening point, but not without a stiff challenge from the Buffaloes. Colorado took the first match at No. 3 by an 8-4 score. At No. 1, the teams traded several service breaks before State's pair of Luiz Carvalho and Jose-Carlos Pinto finally finished off an 8-6 victory over Marcos Digliado and Evan Dixon. In the deciding match, MSU's 49th-ranked team of Romain Ambert and Florent Girod rolled to an early 6-0 lead, but CU's duo of Peter Bjork and Marko Bundalo got the score back to 6-4. Ambert and Girod then claimed the final two games of the match to give the Bulldogs the first point of the day.

Things would not be nearly as close in singles, where State won the first three matches complete in straight sets to clinch the team triumph. MSU also held the advantage in the other three contests when play was suspended at that point.

Putting the Bulldogs up 2-0 was Carvalho, who won his sixth match in a row with a 6-2, 6-2 victory over Bjork at the No. 3 position. State went up 3-0 with a 6-3, 6-3 win from Ambert, ranked 13th nationally, over Dilgliodo at the top spot. That victory moved him into a tie for fourth all-time at MSU in total singles triumphs with 97, matching Matthieu Ballay (1996-99).

The victory-clincher against CU would be provided by senior Max Fomine, who downed Marek Dvorak 6-2, 6-4 at No. 4 for his fourth consecutive win. Pinto, Girod and Romain Provenzano all held one-set leads in their respective matches when play was suspended.

"I am very proud of the guys for the way they came out and played today," Guichard said. "They could have easily overlooked this match mentally, but they played what might have been their best match of the season so far. Colorado is a good team. If we had let up at all, they could have caused lots of problems for us. Now we turn our attention to a Tulane team that we know, first-hand, is very dangerous."

State will face the 40th-ranked Green Wave, winners over North Carolina State Thursday, in Friday's quarterfinals at 2:30 p.m. at Montgomery's Lagoon Park Tennis Center. MSU and TU met on Valentine's Day earlier this season in Starkville, with the Bulldogs rallying from a 2-1 deficit to claim a tight 4-3 win.

Following this weekend's action at the Blue-Gray, the MSU netmen will return home to close out their 2004 home schedule, hosting No. 21 Georgia (March 19), No. 39 Tennessee (March 21) and No. 25 Arkansas (March 26) in successive matches.

Source: MSU Media Relations

03/10/04
Men's Tennis
STARKVILLE, Miss. ­ Mississippi State's Luiz Carvalho has been named the Southeastern Conference's Men's Tennis Player of the Week, as announced by the league office. Carvalho was accorded the honor based on his play this past week in the Bulldogs' upset victories over #35 Auburn and #24 Alabama to start the league schedule. With those two victories, the Bulldogs moved up 16 spots as a team to No. 27 in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association national rankings released Tuesday, the largest jump of any team in the country.

Carvalho went 3-1 in singles and doubles in the two matches. In MSU's 4-2 win against Auburn Friday, the Sao Paulo, Brazil, native tied the score at 2-2 with his 6-3, 6-3, singles win over Rodrigo Minozzo, part of a four-point Bulldog run that overcame a 2-0 deficit to defeat the Tigers.

Against Alabama on Sunday, the junior Bulldog teamed with Jose-Carlos Pinto to post an 8-4 doubles win that secured the opening doubles point for the Bulldogs. He then saved two match points (down 6-3, 6-5) against the Crimson Tide's Joseph Jung to come back and win 3-6, 7-6(1), 6-1 and provide the victory-clinching point for MSU. Jung was previously undefeated (6-0) at the No. 3 position and had just upset the nation's 30th-ranked player Friday.

Carvalho, who missed all of last year as a medical redshirt due to shoulder surgery, has now won five consecutive singles matches and his only losses in dual match play this season have come to top 100 players. He has been the clinching point in two of MSU's five triumphs. Overall, he is 13-7 in singles, 10-7 in doubles for the year.

"This is a very special honor for Luiz," MSU head coach Sylvain Guichard said. "He has played a big role in all five of our wins this season and has really been focusing well in his matches. He is playing tennis right now like we have expected him to his whole career and is really maturing as a player."

Carvalho is one of five Bulldogs to earn the SEC's weekly award since the league initiated it for the sport of tennis in 2000. He joins current teammate Romain Ambert and former Bulldog Rene-Charles Combette (once each in 2002 and 2003), Marco Baron (twice in 2001), and Jeremy Bayon (once in 2000) in earning the honor.

Winners of five-straight matches, the Bulldogs (5-2, 2-0 SEC) will continue action this weekend (March 11-14) at the Blue-Gray National Collegiate Classic in Montgomery, Ala. The tournament, which MSU won in 1992, features many of the nation's top 50 teams.

Fourth-seeded State's first-round opponent will be Colorado in a match slated to begin at 9 a.m. at the Lagoon Park Tennis Center.

"There's no question we have been playing well," MSU head coach Sylvain Guichard said. "Our guys have been doing the little things that have made the difference during our win streak. But one thing is for sure - we will have to continue to do those things if we expect to beat Colorado. They have had losses to some great teams where they played very close. Our guys must be well-prepared and focused for this match."

The winner of the MSU-CU match will meet either 40th-ranked Tulane or North Carolina State during Friday's second day of competition. The loser will play the other.

The MSU netmen will return home after this weekend's action to close out their 2004 home schedule, hosting No. 18 Georgia (March 19), No. 28 Tennessee (March 21) and No. 23 Arkansas (March 26) in successive matches.

Source: MSU Media Relations

03/09/04
Soccer
STARKVILLE, Miss. - Mississippi Youth Soccer Association Director of Coaching Mark Gibbs has appointed Mississippi State head soccer coach Neil McGuire as an assistant coach for the Mississippi Youth Soccer Association Olympic Development Program, the organization announced Monday.

The appointment gives McGuire another distinguished title to his already impressive repertoire. In addition to his capacities as MSU's head coach, McGuire also serves as the U.S. Olympic Development Program's Region III U-19 head coach while also serving as the head coach for the 1988 Mississippi ODP squad.

"It is my honor to join Coach Gibbs on his Mississippi Olympic Development staff," McGuire said. "I look forward to the chance to serve in the overall development of soccer in the state of Mississippi. There is a great deal of talent, and I am excited by the prospect of working to make Mississippi one of the premier soccer states in the nation."

Gibbs believes McGuire brings a high level of experience to the program which can only benefit it, as well as the state of Mississippi, in the long run.

"Neil brings a huge amount of knowledge and experience from the Region 3 ODP program," Gibbs said. "He will assist with passing that information onto me and allowing Mississippi Youth Soccer to deliver more accurate coaching to the players."

Source: MSU Media Relations

03/07/04
Men's Tennis
STARKVILLE, Miss. - Mississippi State's 43rd-ranked men's tennis team held off a charge by 24th-ranked Alabama to upset the Crimson Tide 4-3 Sunday afternoon at the A.J. Pitts Tennis Centre on the MSU campus. In doing so, State (5-2) registered its fifth consecutive victory and also moved to 2-0 in Southeastern Conference play for the first time since 2001. Alabama fell to 4-4, 0-2 in the SEC.

The Bulldogs used the opening doubles point and three tough wins in singles to extend their current streak, which matches the longest MSU has had under third-year head coach Sylvain Guichard. After dropping the No. 3 doubles spot, the Bulldogs claimed 8-4 and 8-6 wins at the top two positions to secure the first point of the day. That would prove to be very important as Alabama would make a rally attempt.

State went up 2-0 when Florent Girod overcame a 4-2, first-set deficit to claim a 6-4, 6-3 triumph at No. 5 over UA's Michael Green. The win was the fifth in a row for the Bulldog sophomore.

The Tide evened things at 2-2 with wins in the next two matches complete. Chris Gostek downed Bulldog Jose-Carlos Pinto 6-2, 6-3 at the No. 2 spot and R.J. Murray was a 7-6(2), 6-3 winner over MSU's Romain Provenzano at No. 6.

The last three matches of the day would all go three sets, setting up a nail-biting conclusion. Senior Max Fomine gave the Bulldogs a 3-2 advantage, edging UA's Eric Molnar 6-2, 3-6, 7-6(3) at the No. 4 position for his third win in a row.

Clinching the match would be Luiz Carvalho in a gutsy performance at No. 3. After dropping the first set 6-3 to Joseph Jung, Carvalho staved off two match points in the second set with Jung serving at 6-5 to force a tiebreaker. The MSU junior won that breaker going away and then played the third set in similar fashion, ultimately taking a 3-6, 7-6(1), 6-1 decision. It was Jung's first loss at the No. 3 position in seven matches this year and only his second loss overall in team competition. It also marked Carvalho's fifth straight win.

In the final match of the day, Alabama's Stephen Mitchell won another tight one, upsetting MSU's seventh-ranked Romain Ambert 2-6, 6-4, 7-6(6). Ambert had three match points in that contest.

"Well, they did it again," Guichard said. "In a tough match, our guys found a way to win, and did so against a very good Alabama team. Finding a way to win seems to be becoming our theme for the season. The key now is to keep our momentum going with a good tournament this week at the Blue-Gray."

State now turns it attention to Montgomery, Ala., this Thursday-Sunday (March 11-14), competing in the Big 10 Tires Blue-Gray National Collegiate Classic. The event features several of the nation's top 50 teams. MSU has not competed in the Blue-Gray since 1995. The Bulldogs won the title of the event in 1992. The draw for the tournament, which guarantees each team at least three matches, will be released early in the week.

Following that action, the MSU netmen will return home to close out their 2004 home schedule, hosting No. 21 Georgia (March 19), No. 39 Tennessee (March 21) and No. 25 Arkansas (March 26) in successive matches.

Source: MSU Media Relations

Softball
STARKVILLE, Miss. - Visiting and 14th-ranked South Carolina rallied in a three-run second inning to retake a lead it would never relinquish as the Gamecocks (13-3, 2-1 SEC) took the deciding game three of its series with Mississippi State (17-11, 1-5), 7-4, behind a strong relief pitching performance from staff ace Stacey Johnson Sunday afternoon at the Mississippi State Softball Field.

Mississippi State got a pair of RBI on a 1-for-3 day from Katie Johnson, while getting a pair of runs from Lindsay Nelson on a 1-for-2 clip at the plate that stretched her hitting streak out to six games. All-American Iyhia McMichael smacked her sixth double of the season on an attempted rally in the seventh, while Starkville's Brandi Watkins recorded a pinch hit RBI double in the bottom of the sixth. South Carolina's Samantha Jennings crossed the plate four times on a 3-for-4 performance that included a three-run homer in the second inning.

Mississippi State starter Melissa Massey gave up three runs on three hits in her shortest outing of the season, striking out one and walking one in an inning of work. Kelli Miller (4-4), who posted State's victory over USC on Saturday, was saddled with the loss for the Bulldogs after surrendering a trio of earned runs in three innings of relief work. USC starter Aleca Johnson lasted just two outs of the ballgame before giving way to Stacey Johnson (7-0) in the bottom of the first. Faced with the 3-2 deficit, Johnson worked her magic and got out of a handful of tough situations and was credited with the decision after striking out four and scattering four hits over six and one-thirds innings.

"I thought that we did a good job of coming back in the first inning, but we didn't adjust to (Stacey) Johnson) when they brought her in," said Mississippi State head coach Jay Miller. "We didn't get very good pitching, hitting or fielding today and it's tough to win games when you do things like that."

South Carolina used a pair of hits and an errant throw by Massey to plate a pair of runs in the opening frame, but State struck back with three runs of its own in the bottom of the first to take its first lead of the contest. The Bulldogs got a RBI single from Jennifer Waterman and a two-run double from Katie Johnson to take a 3-2 lead into the second and chase Aleca Johnson from the circle.

However, in the next frame, South Carolina put a pair of runners on with one out to set the table for Jennings who smacked a wind-aided home run over the fence in right centerfield to give a 5-3 lead back to the Gamecocks. South Carolina would extend its lead out to 7-3 with single insurance runs in each of the fourth and sixth innings, before State would answer with a run of its own on Watkins' single in the sixth.

Mississippi State will be back in action this weekend when the Bulldogs continue action against the SEC East with a three-game series at No. 8 Georgia (14-4, 0-0). The two will open up the series with a doubleheader beginning at 1 p.m. EST on Saturday and will engage in the series finale on Sunday with a 1 p.m. contest as well. Live stats will be available via a live stats link at the Mississippi State's official athletic department website, www.MStateAthletics.com.

The Bulldogs will return home in two weeks when the Maroon and White face No. 13 Tennessee (19-5, 1-1) in a three-game set at the Mississippi State Softball Field, March 20-21.

NO. 14 SOUTH CAROLINA 7, MISSISSIPPI STATE 4
South Carolina 230 101 0 - 7 10 2
Mississippi State 300 001 0 - 4 6 2
A. Johnson, S. Johnson (1) and Smith. Massey, Miller (2), Comeaux (5) and Brown. W - S. Johnson (7-0). L - Miller (4-4). Save - None. 2B USC, Jennings, Cornett and A. Johnson. MSU, McMichael, Waterman, L. Nelson, Johnson and Watkins. HR USC, Jennings.

Source: MSU Media Relations

03/07/04
Men's Track and Field
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. ­ Mississippi State University's men's outdoor track and field team set four regional qualifying marks and 33 career-best marks at the FSU Snowbird, the season opening meet for the squad.

"I think we ran very well this weekend," said head coach Al Schmidt. "We won three of the four relays that they had. It was a great opener, and it is good to be opening the season with the men this year."

MSUšs Jamel Ashley, Keston Nelson, Kendall Pyant II and Arthur Davis won the 4x400m relay race for the Bulldogs setting a regional qualifying mark with their 3:06.90 performance. The 4x100m relay team of Eliott Morant, Ashley, Nelson and Glenn McFadden also set a regional qualifying mark with their 40.46 time, finishing in second.

Junior Matt Denton qualified for regionals in the high jump with his leap of 6-10 3/4, winning top honors in the event by six inches.

Ashley also ran in the 100-meter dash, taking third with his time of 10.80. Vestavia Hills, Ala., native Trey Hardee finished eighth in the 110-meter hurdles in 14.64. In the 800m run, Jason Odom set a career-best time with his 1:55.74 performance for sixth place.

In their first collegiate 1500m run, Bulldog freshman Dustin Fier (3:58.17) and Travis McKay (4:01.00) finished in second and third, respectively. MSU's Elmore McConnell and Phillip Moore finished the 1500m run one-hundredth of a second apart, taking seventh and eighth.

Vicksburg, Miss., native Chris Withrow record a career-top mark in the pole vault with his height of 15-1. Withrow took fourth place in the event. Newcomer Jerald Wilson finished in fourth in the triple jump with his 44-9 3/4 leap.

In the throwing events, Matt Whalen took fifth in the shot put with a distance of 52-2 1/2 and sixth in the hammer with a 176-1. John Micah Stowers recorded two career-best marks on the day. He threw the shot 46-8 3/4 for ninth and the hammer 151-5. JD Erickson finished in sixth in the shot put with his mark of 51-11 3/4. Senior Clay Garner threw the javelin 182-7 for a sixth place showing.

Next, the squad travels to Tuscaloosa, Ala., for the Alabama Relays being held March 19-21.

Source: MSU Media Relations

McMichael tallied her ninth multiple-RBI outing of the season by driving in a trio of runs on her dinger in the fourth, while Starkville's Meagan O'Nan crossed the plate three times on a 2-for-3 tally. Rookie Katie Johnson finished with a perfect 2-for-2 showing at the plate, while senior Kate Jaspers drove in a pair of runs and scored once on a 1-for-2 outing. Nancy Crane finished off a productive day at the plate for visiting South Carolina and paced the Gamecocks in the nightcap by hitting 2-for-3.

Freshman pitcher Kelli Miller (3-3) kept the nationally ranked Gamecocks off balance for much of the abbreviated contest, surrendering just four hits and one walk en route to her fourth complete game and third shutout of the season. State showed no mercy to USC starter Melanie Henkes (3-2) as the righthander was hit with seven earned runs on 10 MSU hits in the loss.

The mercy rule victory marked just the second of its kind and the first for an MSU team in the history of its 25-game series with USC. Mississippi State also posted its third blanking in eight triumphs over the Gamecocks.

"What a way to win your first game in the SEC," said Mississippi State head coach Jay Miller. "I thought we really came out in the second game and showed what we were made of. We bounced back well and Kelli (Miller) came out and pitched an outstanding game for us."

O'Nan led off the game with an infield single and was moved around the paths rather quickly as the Bulldogs used their short game to threaten immediately. Following Jaspers' sac hit that moved O'Nan into scoring position, though, McMichael lined a shot right at first baseman Meghan Cornett, who checked her glove to see if the ball had stayed, then touched the first base bag to record the first and second outs of the inning. The relief was short-lived, however, as Jennifer Waterman followed with a single up the middle to plate the runner and give State a 1-0 lead heading into the second.

Following a scoreless second frame, the Maroons would add to their lead in the third, getting RBI knocks from both Jaspers and Lindsay Nelson to stretch its lead out to 3-0. In the fourth, Brown led off with a towering homer to centerfield to spark a multi-run inning for the Bulldogs. Following Brown's four-bagger, Johnson and McDonald both reached safely to set the table for McMichael, who took Henkes' first offering down the rightfield line and into the parking lot.

Mississippi State and South Carolina will engage in the rubber match of their three-game set tomorrow when the two go head-to-head in a 12:30 p.m. game at the MSU Softball Field. Admission to all 2004 Mississippi State Softball home games is free of charge.

MISSISSIPPI STATE 8, #14 SOUTH CAROLINA 0 (5 Innings)
South Carolina 000 00 - 0 4 1
Mississippi State 102 5x - 8 10 1
Henkes and Smith. Miller and Brown. W - Miller (4-3). L - Henkes (3-2). Save - None. 2B MSU, Nelson. HR MSU, McMichael and Brown.

Game 1
STARKVILLE, Miss. - Visiting and 14th-ranked South Carolina (12-2, 1-0 SEC) plated a single run in each of the third and seventh innings, then breathed a sigh of relief after holding back a late charge by homestanding Mississippi State (16-10, 0-4 SEC) as the Gamecocks squeaked by the Bulldogs and snapped the Bulldogs' 12-game home winning streak.

Mississippi State got base hits from four different players, including a pinch-hit RBI single from Katie Johnson in the seventh, to highlight its offense. Lindsay Nelson was one of the four players with base knocks as well, but scored the Maroon and White's only run as well. Nancy Crane was a part of both runs for the visitors, as she crossed the plate once and drove in a run for the Gamecocks. Catcher Ashley Smith (2-for-3) also finished the game with a multi-hit performance.

South Carolina starter Melanie Henkes (6-0) struck out eight and scattered just four hits in the victory, but had to say her prayers in the seventh to hold back a MSU rally. MSU starter Melissa Massey (7-4) tallied her eighth complete game of the season and pitched very well, but offset six strikeouts with seven hits and a pair of earned runs in the loss.

"I thought we were very passive at the plate," said Mississippi State head coach Jay Miller. "Melissa Massey pitched an outstanding game for us, but we didn't give her any kind of run support. We need to step up and take the game over when we have opportunities like late in the game."

South Carolina put its leadoff batter on in each of the first three innings, using a single and a stolen base by Crane in the third to put a runner into scoring position for Meghan Cornett, who drove in the run on a slap to the left side of the infield. Carolina got a one out double from Samantha Jennings in the seventh, then added an insurance run two batters later on Crane's hard shot to centerfield.

State would use an errant throw by the USC third baseman Jennings to get Lindsay Nelson into scoring position with no outs in the seventh. Henkes put two outs on the board with the next two at-bats, but Johnson used her pinch hit opportunity to plate the runner, driving a ball into the gap in short centerfield to plate Nelson from second. Henkes slammed the door on the rally a short time later, freezing Blair Geddings on a 1-2 offering to end the game.

#14 SOUTH CAROLINA 2, MISSISSIPPI STATE 1
South Carolina 001 000 1 - 2 7 2
Mississippi State 000 000 0 - 1 4 0
Johnson and Smith. Massey and Geddings. W - Johnson (6-0). L - Massey (7-4). Save - None. 2B USC, Jennings. MSU, McMichael.

Source: MSU Media Relations

03/06/04
Men's Tennis
STARKVILLE, Miss. - In another marathon contest, Mississippi State's 43rd-ranked men's tennis team claimed its fourth victory in a row Friday, rallying from a 2-0 deficit to defeat 35th-ranked Auburn 4-2 in a six-hour affair that opened Southeastern Conference play for both teams. The match was played indoors at MSU's McCarthy Gym due to rain.

The triumph lifted State's record to 4-2, 1-0 in the SEC. Auburn fell to 3-5, 0-1. The win also broke a four-match skid for the Bulldogs against AU.

In doubles, it looked like State was going to run away with the opening point of the match, as Romain Ambert and Florent Girod took just 32 minutes to claim an 8-0 victory over Tigers Robert Lathouwers and Rodrigo Minozzo at the No. 2 position. But AU would take a 9-8(6) decision at No. 1, and overcome a service break at No. 3 to win 8-6, to gain the opening point of the match.

The Tigers grabbed a 2-0 advantage when AU's 60th-ranked Gabor Zoltan Pelva downed MSU's Jose-Carlos Pinto 6-2, 6-3 at the No. 2 position. State would cut the lead to 2-1 when Ambert, ranked seventh in the country, bested Alex Schweizer 6-3, 7-5 at No. 1. Ambert's wins in singles and doubles Friday moved him into a tie for 10th place all-time at MSU for overall victories, matching former Bulldog Mark Thompson (1977-80) with 157 total triumphs.

Junior Bulldog Luiz Carvalho knotted the score at 2-2 when he finished off a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Minozzo at No. 3, marking Carvalho's fourth straight win. Putting State up 3-2 was senior Max Fomine. After splitting sets with Lathouwers at the No. 4 position, Fomine cruised 6-1 in the third to claim a 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 win.

MSU's match-clinching point would be provided by sophomore Florent Girod for the third consecutive contest, as he solidly downed Tiger Nick Lane 6-1, 6-3 at the No. 5 spot. In the final match, Bulldog rookie Romain Provenzano had gained a one-set lead on AU's Brett Hunter when that match was suspended after Girod had clinched the team triumph.

"I know my guys are starting think I sound like a broken record," MSU head coach Sylvain Guichard said, "but this was another match we won because we kept fighting and never quit. Auburn is a talented team, and to come back on them in that fashion was a credit to our guys. We will enjoy this win briefly, but then quickly shift our focus to another tall test against a great Alabama team on Sunday."

Source: MSU Media Relations

"I think LaChristopher's performance was fabulous," said head coach Al Schmidt. "I thought the distance and sprint medley relay teams also had a great day. Tomorrow should be a day of more great performances for MSU."

MSU's 1600-meter sprint relay team of Jason Odom, Kendall Pyant II, Ryan Irwin, and Brandon Smith took top honors in the race, crossing the finish line in 3:21.11. The distance medley relay team of Glenn McFadden, LaChristopher Lewis, Keston Nelson and Elmore McConnell also won their relay. The squad finished in a time of 10:15.43.

Lewis finished runner-up in the long jump with a regional qualifying and career-best mark of 25-3 1/2. Pyant and Trey Hardee also set career-best marks in the event with jumps of 23-10 3/4 and 23-5 1/4, respectively.

Freshman Daniel Nolan took third in the 400-meter hurdles with his time of 55.09. Senior Brad Rowland finished seventh in 57.79.

Junior JD Erickson took sixth in the discus with a throw of 149-2 1/2. John-Micah Stowers set a new career-best mark in the event by more than seven feet (146-9 1/2).

State had five competitors in the 5000-meter run. All five athletes ­ Gedamu Ege, Brett Marlin, Kevin Coch, Shelby Nousain and Patrick Jouben ­ set career-best marks.

Action resumes on Saturday at 9:30 a.m. EST with the men's javelin throw.

Source: MSU Media Relations

The Tigers won the doubles point sweeping the Lady Bulldogs. Anastasia Kugakolova and Magdi Rekasi dropped their match to Petra Bercik and Carolina Ramirez at No. 1 in an 8-6 decision. Tarryn Rudman and Hayley Rudman fell at the second spot to Liz Sauerborn and Sarah Suitor, 9-7. In another close match, Marcelle Hirt and Justyna Switala fell 9-7 to Isabel Rosenbrock and Ashley Cowart at No. 3.

In singles action, Hirt fell 6-1, 7-5 to Bercik at the first position. At No. 2, Kugakolova dropped her match in a 7-5, 6-1 decision to Auburnšs Ramirez. Rekasi was defeated by Rosenbrock, 6-3, 6-2, at No. 3.

Tarryn Rudman took on Sauerborn at the fourth spot. Rudman forced the match to a third set, but fell 7-6 (4), 3-6, 6-0. Also in a three-set match, Switala faced Suitor on court five, but was defeated 6-2, 3-6, 1-0 (10-4). Yumi Ueda fell to Nancy Peaden at No. 6, 6-1, 6-1.

Source: MSU Media Relations

03/02/04
Women's Track and Field
After a solid performance at this past weekend's SEC Women's Indoor Track and Field Championships, the MSU women's indoor track team moved into the top 20 of the Trackwire Top 25 rankings.

The Trackwire 25 for Women, including team rankings and projected national meet scores:

1. LSU, 55
2. Florida, 52
=3. Nebraska, 45
=3. Texas, 45
5. Tennessee, 44
6. UCLA, 37
7. Georgia, 34
8. Providence, 26
=9. South Carolina, 24
=9. BYU, 24
=11. Stanford, 23
=11. Arkansas, 23
=13. North Carolina, 18
=13. Miami, 18
15. Notre Dame, 12
=16. Cal Poly, 11
=16. Georgetown, 11
=16. Georgia Tech, 11
=19. Auburn, 10
=19. Akron, 10
=19. Mississippi State, 10
=19. Michigan, 10
=23. Wisconsin, 8
=23. West Virginia, 8
=23. SMU, 8
=23. Kansas State, 8

03/01/04
Women's Track and Field
LEXINGTON, Ky. ­ Mississippi State University's Tiffany McWilliams won the mile run at the SEC Indoor Championships in 4:35.91, the third fastest collegiate time in the country, defending her title from the 2003 Championships. With her performance, she broke the UK Nutter Fieldhouse record she set in the prelims and automatically qualified for the NCAA Championships.

In the finals of the 800-meter run, McWilliams set a NCAA provisional qualifying mark with her time of 2:06.67, finishing in sixth place.

"It was a lot of work for Tiffany, but she did a good job," said head coach Al Schmidt. "Tiffany is now a five-time SEC Champion, so we can not ask for more than that. The squad did good in the DMR with a seasonal best mark. We have a lot of work for everybody to do before outdoor season. This meet is always a good stepping stone for us."

MSU's distance medley relay team of Jennifer McPherson, Nicole Dunn, Zita Magloire and McWilliams finished runner-up in the event in a season best time of 11:27.54, a NCAA provisional qualifying mark.

Next, the NCAA Indoor National Championships will be March 12-13 in Fayetteville, Ark. The outdoor season opens for the men's and women's teams on March 5, in Tallahassee, Fla., at the FSU Snowbird.

Source: MSU Media Relations

With the loss, State fell to 5-5 overall, 0-2 in Southeastern Conference play. Vandy improved to 11-1, 3-0 while posting its 14th consecutive win over MSU in the series. VU now leads the series 17-7.

In doubles, Vanderbilt dominated at the top spot, but State would give VU everything it wanted at the other two positions. At No. 1, the second-ranked Commodore duo of Kelly Schmandt and Aleke Tsoubanos backed up their ranking with an 8-1 win over Lady Bulldogs Anastasia Kugakolova and Magdi Rekasi. MSU's team of Marcelle Hirt and Justyna Switala took an 8-6 win at No. 3, downing Commodores Amanda Fish and Ashley Schellhas. Vandy's 10th-ranked tandem of Audra Falk and Annie Menees would then hold on for an 8-6 victory over MSU's Hayley Rudman and Tarryn Rudman at No. 2 to secure the first point of the day for VU.

Vanderbilt, which sports four players ranked among the nation's top 90, would show that strength in singles, registering straight-set triumphs at all six positions.

Vandy grabbed a 2-0 lead in the match when Menees downed Lady Bulldog Yumi Ueda 6-2, 6-0 at No. 5. Falk, ranked 28th in the country, put VU up 3-0 with a 6-0, 6-0 win over Kugakolova at the top position. Clinching the team victory for the Commodores would be Fish. Ranked 65th, she bested MSU freshman Tarryn Rudman 6-2, 6-2 at the No. 3 spot. VU would claim victories at the No. 2, 4 and 6 positions as well to finish off scoring for the day.

Source: MSU Media Relations