MSU Media Relations

7/21/05
Tennis
STARKVILLE, Miss. - Mississippi State's men's and women's tennis teams have been awarded national honors on both the team and individual levels by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association for the 2004-05 season, as the ITA has announced its yearly academic awards.

Both the Bulldogs and Lady Bulldogs earned the ITA's All-Academic Team Award, which is bestowed upon teams that record a cumulative 3.20 grade point average or higher for the year. State's men's roster notched a very impressive 3.53 team GPA in earning the ITA's team award for the sixth straight year. The Lady Bulldogs posted an excellent 3.66 mark to claim the laurel for the ninth consecutive season.

On the individual level, two of State's men's tennis student-athletes, and five women, earned the ITA Scholar-Athlete Award. To qualify, a player must hold a 3.5 GPA for the year, be a varsity letterwinner, and have been enrolled at least two semesters at their present school.

Bulldogs Florent Girod and Jose-Carlos Pinto were both second-time honorees for the award on the men's side. Girod, who will be a senior for MSU in 2005-06, had a flawless 4.00 GPA in international business. Pinto, also a senior-to-be, was also a perfect 4.00 student, his work coming in the banking & finance field. Two other Bulldogs, true freshmen Philippe Frayssinoux and Pierre Mouillon, each posted GPAs over 3.5 but were spring '05 enrollees and, thus, did not meet the two-semester stipulation for the honor.

On the women's side, Zsuzsanna Fodor, Renee Joseph, Polina Koloulina, Magdi Rekasi and Hayley Rudman were all honorees, Rekasi and Rudman each for the second year in a row. Fodor held a 3.79 grade mark in psychology. The true freshman Joseph posted a team-high 3.91 in biological sciences. Kokoulina notched a 3.64 GPA in microbiology. Studying communication, Rekasi registered a 3.55 grade point. And Rudman produced an impressive 3.82 in general business.

Source: MSU Media Relations

7/19/05
Soccer
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Mississippi State’s regularly scheduled soccer match-up with SEC Eastern Division foe South Carolina on October 16 has been selected to be regionally televised as part of SEC-TV’s soccer/volleyball television package, the league office announced Monday afternoon.

The Bulldogs and Gamecocks will be one of eight Southeastern Conference soccer teams to be highlighted on the regional network this season. The television package opens on September 30 in Knoxville, Tenn., when Florida visits Tennessee, and will conclude with an October 30 match-up between Kentucky and Vanderbilt in Nashville. Auburn will host Georgia in the only other televised regular season game on October 23.

SEC-TV will also do a live broadcast of the SEC Women’s Soccer Tournament championship game on November 6.

State has made three appearances on SEC-TV, most recently dropping a 1-0 decision to South Carolina in the final home game of the 2003 campaign. The Maroon and White made its television debut in a 3-0 loss to visiting Vanderbilt on Oct. 19, 1997, and defeated Auburn 2-1 in overtime on Oct. 12, 2001, en route to the SEC Western Division championship.

The Bulldogs open their 2005 season on August 26 by hosting Big 12 foe Iowa State in a 7 p.m. contest at the Mississippi State Soccer Field. MState will close out its opening weekend on Aug. 28, hosting Samford in a game that has been slated for a 1 p.m. kickoff in Starkville.

2005 SEC WOMEN’S SOCCER TELEVISION SCHEDULE
All Games To Be Shown On SEC-TV (Fox Sports Net South)

Friday, 9/30: Florida at Tennessee - 6:30 PM CT
Sunday, 10/16: South Carolina at Mississippi State - 1:00 PM CT
Sunday, 10/23: Georgia at Auburn - 1:00 PM CT
Sunday, 10/30: Kentucky at Vanderbilt - 1:00 PM CT
Sunday, 11/6: SEC Women's Soccer Tournament Championship - Time TBD

Source: MSU Media Relations

Softball
STARKVILLE, Miss. - Mississippi State softball head coach Jay Miller will head to Spain later this week as the fourth-year Bulldog skipper joins up with Team USA as an assistant coach for the Inter-Continental Cup to be held in Madrid, July 20-28.

The tournament, which will welcome teams from all over the world, will mark the next scheduled competition for Team USA after it faces Japan in the championship game of the first-ever World Cup of Softball at Oklahoma City’s ASA Hall of Fame Stadium. Monday evening’s tilt has been slated for a 7 p.m. first pitch on ESPN2.

The coaching stint will mark the first for Miller since serving as an assistant coach on the USA Elite team’s run to runner-up honors at the 2005 Canada Cup. That tournament came just more than three weeks after Miller served as an assistant coach for the Stars and Stripes in its run to the championship of the International Sports Invitational in Chula Vista, Calif.

The feat marked the fourth consecutive medal showing at the Canada Cup for the USA Elite squad. Miller led the USA Red squad that captured Gold in the 2001 U.S. Cup and the USA Elite team that took home runner-up honors at the 2002 Canada Cup and the championship of the 2003 Canada Cup. He also coached the USA National Team to a gold medal at the World University Games in October.

USA Softball is the brand created, operated and owned by the ASA that links the USA Men’s, Women’s, Junior Boys’ and Junior Girls’ National Team programs together. USA Softball is responsible for training, equipping and promoting these four National Teams to compete in international and domestic competitions. The USA Softball Women’s National Team is one of the only two women’s sports involved in the Olympic movement to capture three consecutive gold medals at the Olympic Games since 1996. The U.S. women have also won seven World Championship titles including the last five consecutive.

Source: MSU Media Relations

7/16/05
Women's Golf
STARKVILLE, MISS. - The Mississippi State women's golf team will be in familiar territory in the 2005-2006 season. MSU will compete in the same nine tournaments in the 2005-2006 season as they did in 2004-2005.

The Lady Bulldogs will kick off the fall season at the Alabama/Ann Rhoads Intercollegiate, hosted by the University of Alabama at the Ol' Colony Golf Club, Sept. 18-20. The squad then travels to Lexington, Ky. for the fourth annual Wildcat Fall Invitational on Oct. 1-2. The Lady Bulldogs took home the team crown at the Wildcat Invitational last year while all-SEC upcoming junior Amanda Mathis won the individual title. State will close out the fall season with the Lady Paladin Invitational in Greenville, S.C. on Oct. 14-16 and the ACC/SEC Challenge to be played Oct. 28-30 at the Raven Golf Club at the Sandestin Resort in Sandestin, Fla.

The spring season begins on Feb. 19-21 as the team will travel to Miami, Fla. for the Papa Johns Collegiate Golf Tournament at Don Shula's Golf Club. State continues its spring season with three tournaments in the month of March. The first tournament will be the LSU/Cleveland Golf Classic held at The University Club in Baton Rouge, La. on March 3-5. The Lady Bulldogs then travel to Pinehurst, N.C. for the Edwin Watts/Pinehurst Challenge (March 12-14) and close out play in March with the Liz Murphey Collegiate Classic (March 24-26) in Athens, Ga. MSU closes out the spring regular season with the SEC Championship (April 14-16) which will be held at the Vanderbilt Legends Club in Nashville, Tenn.

The Lady Bulldogs will look to return to postseason play for the second straight year in 2006. NCAA Regionals will be held May 11-13 and the NCAA Championships will take place in Columbus, Ohio May 23-26.

State returns four letterwinners from last years squad who finished the season placing 16th at the NCAA East Regional. The 2004-2005 team set a school record stroke average (305.48) and finished in the top 10 in seven of the 10 tournaments they participated in.

2005 FALL SCHEDULE
Date - Event - Host
Sept. 18-20 - Alabama Ann Rhoads Intercollegiate - University of Alabama, Course: Ol¹ Colony Golf Club, Tuscaloosa, Ala.
Oct. 1-2 - Wildcat Fall Invitational - University of Kentucky, Course: Big Blue Course, Lexington, Ky.
Oct. 14-16 - Lady Paladin Invitational - Furman University, Course: Furman University Golf Course, Greenville, S.C.
Oct. 28-30 - ACC/SEC Challenge - Florida State University, Course: Raven Golf Club, Sandestin Resort, Sandestin, Fla.

2006 SPRING SCHEDULE
Date - Event - Host
Feb. 19-21 - Papa Johns Collegiate Golf Tournament - University of Miami, Course: Don Shula's Golf Club, Miami, Fla.
March 3-5 - LSU/Cleveland Golf Classic - Louisiana State University, Course: The University Club, Baton Rouge, La.
March 12-14 - Edwin Watts/Pinehurst Challenge - College of Charleston, Course: Pinehurst #8, Pinehurst Resort, Pinehurst, N.C.
March 24-26 - Liz Murphey Collegiate Classic - University of Georgia, Course: UGA Golf Course, Athens, Ga.
April 14-16 - SEC Championship - Vanderbilt University, Course: Vanderbilt Legends Club, Nashville, Tenn.
May 11-13 - NCAA East Regionals - TBA, Course: TBA May 23-26 - NCAA Championships - Ohio State University, Course: Scarlet Golf Course, Columbus, Ohio

Source: MSU Media Relations

7/14/05
Softball
IRVINE, Calif. - Former Mississippi State all-American Kellie Wilkerson (1998-01) hit a two-run home run in her first national team at-bat to key an 11-hit attack by Team USA as the Red, White and Blue routed Team Australia, 10-0, in an abbreviated exhibition game Tuesday evening at Manning Stadium in Irvine, Calif.

"It was an unbelievable feeling," said Wilkerson, who finished 2-for-2 with a pair of RBI and a run scored. "I have been playing with these girls on and off so I was talking to them a lot during the game. There were definitely some butterflies going on, but it was incredible to take the field tonight in this uniform."

Wilkerson’s blast came in a four-run first inning scoring barrage for the USA. A RBI single by Jessica Mendoza, coupled with a fielding error by the Aussies, gave the Stars and Stripes a quick 2-0 lead before Wilkerson welcomed herself to the national squad in impressive fashion, blasting a two-run home run to centerfield to plate Jenny Topping for the 4-0 advantage.

Already holding a 6-0 lead in the third, Wilkerson helped get another rally started with a base hit that preceded a RBI double to push the USA lead out to seven heading into the fourth.

Wilkerson and her Team USA teammates will be back in action when they travel to Oklahoma City, Okla. for competition in the first ever World Cup of Softball, July 14-18. All US games will be televised on ESPN and ESPN2. Please visit www.usasoftball.com for a complete schedule.

Source: MSU Media Relations