MSU Netmen Earn 12th-Straight NCAA Bid; To Meet South Alabama In First Round
May 25, 2016 | Men's Tennis
STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Mississippi State's men's tennis team learned Thursday that it will compete in the first round of the 64-team 2002 NCAA Team Championship May 11 in Auburn, Ala. State's first-round NCAA site, which will be one of 16 nationally, will be hosted by Auburn University.
Thursday's selection marks the Bulldogs' 12th-consecutive appointment to the NCAA Team Championship field, one of only nine schools (Florida, Georgia, MSU, Notre Dame, Pepperdine, Southern Cal, Stanford, TCU and UCLA) in the nation to have earned that distinction. State has also reached the NCAA Championships' round of 16 or better in 10 of the last 11 seasons and was a national semifinalist in 1994 and 1998.
MSU (10-11), currently ranked 28th nationally, will meet a somewhat familiar foe in the first round in 37th-ranked South Alabama (15-8), next Saturday, May 11, at a time to be announced. If State wins that contest, the Bulldogs would advance to play the winner between 13th-ranked host Auburn (who is the country's No. 12 seed overall) and 68th-ranked East Tennessee State on Sunday, May 12. That match would be for a spot in the NCAA Team Championship's round of 16, which will be held May 18-21 in College Station, Texas.South Alabama has won its last six matches entering the NCAAs, including claiming the Sun Belt Conference title two weeks ago. The Bulldogs and Jaguars will be meeting for the 13th time in the modern era. State is 7-5 in the previous 12 affairs, including a 6-1 decision earlier this year in Starkville. USA claimed a 4-3 decision at MSU in 2001. Prior to those two matchups, the teams had not faced each other since 1986.
"We are very happy to be back in the NCAA field again this year," Sylvain Guichard, who is in his first season as State's head coach, said. "We have worked hard to gain our program's 12th-straight selection to the tournament, which was one of our goals this year.
"South Alabama will be a very tough opponent for us in the first round. They have a talented team and will be difficult to beat on a neutral court. We will have to prepare well for a team that has been playing great tennis at the end of the season."
Also released Thursday were the selections for the NCAA Singles and Doubles Championships, to be played May 22-27 in College Station. Sophomore Bulldog Romain Ambert, currently ranked eighth nationally, was one of the four automatic selections to the 64-player singles field from the always-stout Southeast Region. A first-team, all-Southeastern Conference selection for the second year in a row, Ambert is 36-9 this season, only the fourth Bulldog in the modern era to register 36 or more singles victories in a single year.
The SEC's power is once again very evident in the national championship with all 12 of its teams earning bids to the 64-team field for the second year in a row. Eleven league players are in the 64-player singles field and five pairs are in the 32-team doubles draw.
MSU IN THE 2002 NCAA MEN'S TENNIS TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP
First and Second Rounds
May 11-12, 2002-Auburn, Alabama
Saturday, May 11
#12 Auburn vs. #68 East Tennessee State - TBA
#28 Mississippi State vs. #37 South Alabama - TBA
Sunday, May 12
Second Round Match (to advance to round of 16 at College Station, Texas) - TBA
MSU'S NCAA MEN'S TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIPS INDIVIDUAL SELECTIONS
Singles-#8 Romain Ambert (Southeast Region Automatic Qualifier)
(numbers preceding names indicate current national rankings)
