MSU Women’s Tennis Completes One Of Most Successful Seasons Ever
June 01, 2016 | Women's Tennis
STARKVILLE, Miss. – For the second-straight season, the Mississippi State women's tennis program closed out the 2016 spring slate with strong representation in both the NCAA Team and Individual Championships, after registering one of the best overall years in the team's history.
The Bulldogs finished the year ranked 23rd in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association's national rankings. MSU was a mainstay in the top 25 this season with its highest ranking coming at 21st three times, which was the second-highest ranking in the program's history. State reached the NCAA Second Round as a team for the second consecutive year and fifth time all-time.
Guided by head coach Daryl Greenan, MSU went 18-9 for the year, its second-most single-season triumphs ever. State also finished 7-6 in the powerful Southeastern Conference (the seven wins were a program best) and reached the quarterfinals of the SEC Championship for the second year in a row. Of the Bulldogs' 18 wins, 13 came against ranked opponents, highlighted by a 4-3 upset of 15th-ranked LSU in Baton Rouge on March 13. That win was the highest ranked opponent MSU had ever defeated on the road. All nine of State's setbacks during the campaign were to teams in the final top 20.
Individually, State saw its first singles ITA All-American named as junior Jasmine Lee earned a 9-16 seed in the 2016 NCAA Singles Championship. Georgiana Patrasc also represented State in NCAA singles competition, while the Bulldog duo of Madison Harrison and Kristina Vozniak competed for MSU in doubles.
Lee advanced to the quarterfinals of singles, becoming the first State women's player ever to do so while Patrasc ended her incredible senior year and career (she finished as State's all-time leader in singles wins, third in overall wins) in the second round. The tandem of Harrison and Vozniak became the second MSU pair to ever advance to the NCAA Round of 16 in doubles, joining 1989 NCAA Doubles champions Jackie Holden and Claire Pollard.
MSU also had two All-SEC honorees. Lee landed on the All-SEC First Team for the second straight campaign, while Patrasc earned All-SEC Second Team laurels, her third career All-SEC selection. Lee and Patrasc picked up regional awards as well, being named the ITA Southern Region's Player to Watch and Most Improved Senior, respectively.
State ended 2015-16 with a school-record five players in the final ITA national individual rankings. Lee led the group in singles at No. 11, 12 spots higher than any State player has ever finished a season. Her 32 wins tied for the second-most by a Bulldog ever. Patrasc made her final appearance at No. 37 (her highest single-season final ranking) after posting 50 total wins (most by any MSU player since 2004-05), freshman Anastasia Rentouli was at No. 105 (her 29 victories tied for fourth-most in a single season at State) and Harrison at No. 117. In doubles, Harrison paired with Vozniak to form the nation's No. 34 tandem and teamed with Patrasc at No. 39. Harrison became the eighth MSU women's player to ever finish ranked in both singles and doubles and the first to ever achieve final doubles rankings with two different partners in the same year.
"This was a special year for our team in many ways," head coach Daryl Greenan said. "On paper it was one of our best years ever. For me it was fun. It was fun winning, competing at such a high level and being around this group of girls. We had more individual highlights and accolades than ever but every single player on our roster played an important role in our success. I am really proud of the commitment from our athletes. They raised the bar for Bulldog Tennis and I am looking forward to challenging them to do even more next season."
For more information on Mississippi State women's tennis and updates, fans can follow the Bulldogs on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at HailStateWT.
