MSU Women’s Tennis Earns Ninth NCAA Bid; Faces Arizona State Friday In First Round
May 03, 2021 | Women's Tennis
STARKVILLE – For the fifth time in the last six seasons in which the tournament has been held, the Mississippi State women's tennis team has earned a bid to the 2021 NCAA Women's Tennis Championship, the NCAA announced Monday evening. The Bulldogs are headed to Austin, Texas, and will face No. 33 Arizona State in the first round on May 7 at 12 p.m. CT at the Texas Tennis Center.
On Friday, the first match will showcase 38th-ranked Mississippi State against 33rd-ranked Arizona State. Following the Bulldog-Sun Devil battle, No. 2 national seed host Texas will meet Denver in the other first round matchup at 3 p.m. CT. The winners of the two Friday matches will compete on Saturday at 3 p.m. CT for the right to advance to the NCAA Round of 16 in Orlando, Florida, on May 16.
"It's a great honor to make the tournament," head coach Daryl Greenan said. "It's the fifth time since I've been here, ninth time overall. It's a big deal. I'm excited to go there and compete. We have a tough match with Arizona State. We get to play the best teams in the country week in and week out in the SEC schedule, and there's nothing we haven't seen so we're prepared."
Monday's selection marks MSU women's tennis' ninth appearance in the NCAA Championship all-time. In its previous eight appearances, MSU is 6-8 overall and has advanced to the second round six times.
The Southeastern Conference had 13 of its 14 women's teams selected for this year's NCAA field.
State owns an 11-12 overall ledger this season, with eight of its 12 setbacks coming against current Top 25 programs. The Bulldogs recorded their 10th-consecutive season-opening triumph to start the season and went on to post a perfect 8-0 record in non-conference action to match the best start to a season in program history.
Other highlights this year included a 6-1 road win at Furman and a thrilling 4-3 upset of then-No. 20 Tennessee in Starkville in late February. Most recently, the Bulldogs defeated tournament host Alabama in Tuscaloosa on April 19 in an exciting 4-3 triumph to advance to the second round of the 2021 SEC Championship.
State's first-round foe this week - Arizona State - heads to the Lone Star state with a 14-8 ledger this season, 6-3 in the Pac-12. The Sun Devils are led by 89th-ranked Ilze Hattingh in singles. Hattingh is 10-7 at the top position in the lineup. In doubles, Hattingh pairs with Lauryn John-Baptiste to form the Sun Devils' No. 1 duo. The tandem owns an 8-8 record this season. The MSU and ASU women's tennis programs have met only once before – on March 16, 2000, in Tempe, Arizona, where the Sun Devils claimed a 6-0 home victory over the Bulldogs.
This weekend's host and No. 2 national seed Texas is coming off capturing both the Big 12 regular season and tournament championships after posting a 9-0 record in their conference and 25-1 mark overall. Denver claimed its seventh-straight Summit League Tournament title and boasts a 14-3 mark overall, 5-0 in conference play.
Selections for the NCAA Singles and Doubles Championships will be announced Tuesday. State's 27th-ranked Emma Antonaki is expected to earn her second career bid to the 64-player NCAA Singles Championship. The 21st-ranked State doubles tandem of Magda Adaloglou and Tamara Racine may also receive an at-large bid in doubles.
No NCAA Team or Individual Tennis Championships were held in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
MSU Women's Tennis
2021 NCAA Team Championship – 1st/2nd Rounds
May 7-8 – Austin, Texas – Texas Tennis Center
Schedule
Friday, May 7
Match #1 – #2 Arizona State vs. #3 Mississippi State – 12 p.m. CT
Match #2 – #1 Texas vs. #4 Denver – 3 p.m. CT
Saturday, May 8
Match #3 – Match #1 winner vs. Match #2 winner – 3 p.m. CT
Admission
A reduced number of tickets per match will be available to the public. These tickets will be $5 per match, available as walk-up purchases only, and must be paid for using a debit/credit card. The Texas Tennis Center will be cleared of fans for sanitizing in between each match, so fans wishing to attend multiple matches must purchase a ticket for each individual match.
For more information on Mississippi State women's tennis team, visit HailState.com and follow "HailStateWT" on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
