State Set For 'Jam-Packed' Fall Schedule
August 20, 2024 | Women's Tennis
STARKVILLE – A busy fall slate awaits Mississippi State's women's tennis team under second-year head coach Chris Hooshyar.
The Bulldogs have a dozen tournaments on the docket across seven states spanning from coast-to-coast in hopes of qualifying for the NCAA Individual Championships to wrap up the fall in November.
"We have a mixture of different tournaments right now, which I am excited about," Hooshyar said. "We're all going to go to the Debbie Southern Fall Classic on the Sept. 13th weekend. When we went last year, it was stacked with good players and good teams. I like to go to that first tournament as a whole group. We use it as a chance to get used to being with each other on the road and playing as many matches that are guaranteed that weekend. I'm excited for that.
"Then, the rest of the fall will be kind of split up because of the change with the NCAA singles and doubles championships to the fall instead of the end of the spring. We have a jam-packed fall. We have a couple of tournaments where we will go as a full team. Then, we have a lot of tournaments where we will be traveling with four or less players. It's going to be a lot of events but a fun fall."
MSU will open its fall schedule in Greenville, South Carolina for the Debbie Southern Furman Fall Classic from Sept. 13-15. The Bulldogs will also compete in the Roberta Alison Fall Classic at Alabama from Nov. 1-3 and also the Rice Fall Invitational in Houston, Texas from Nov. 7-9.
State will also have four tournament opportunities for players qualify for the NCAA Individual Championships. The Bulldogs will send student-athletes to the ITA All-American Championships in Cary, N.C. (Sept. 21-29), ITA Southern Regionals in Auburn, Alabama (Oct. 10-15), ITA Conference Masters Championships in San Diego, California (Nov. 7-10) and ITA Sectional Championships in Athens, Georgia (Nov. 7-10).
The NCAA Individual Championships are slated for Nov. 19-24 in Waco, Texas.
Mississippi State could potentially send players to participate in four ITF tournaments as well. On the week of Oct. 14-20, players could be headed to Macon, Georgia for the W100 or Jackson, Tennessee for the W15. The following week from Oct. 21-27, more Bulldogs could travel to Tyler, Texas for the W100 or Hilton Head, South Carolina for the W35.
Athina Pitta and doubles partner Alexandra Mikhailuk represented MSU at the ITA National Fall Championships last year in San Diego after becoming the first players in program history to ever win the ITA Southern Regional doubles title.
Pitta is one of five Bulldogs back this season alongside seniors Maria Rizzolo and Alessia Tagliente and fellow sophomores Jayna Clemens and Ava Rath.
Hooshyar has four new additions to his roster this fall with freshmen Emma Cohen, Gianna Oboniye and Carolina Troiano severing as his first signing class along with Florida State transfer Chiara Di Genova.
"I'm very excited," Hooshyar said. "The returners have done well over the summer. They have been working hard, and I'm really excited about our four new girls. I think that they give a really good energy, excitement and an unknown, which I think is really cool. I think the returners are also excited by the new blood that's coming."
State is scheduled to hold its first practice of the fall on Friday morning to begin establishing the foundation for what Hooshyar wants his team's calling card to be moving forward.
"It's a chance to solidify what our program will be about, cementing the identity of our team and working on having a single brand," Hooshyar said. "When you're trying to do a lot of things, you can have a few different brands within your programs. But the best programs have one brand.
"Ours is going to be one of just fighting. We're going to be a team that is full of fighters. That's what excites me the most. With our schedule and having the girls here in the fall, it isn't going to be easy. That's what we want to work and be known as. We're tough. When you see Mississippi State as your opponent in a tournament, the first reaction will be, 'Oh, this is going to be tough.' That starts now. My favorite thing of all the teams that I've been a part of is that they fight and always show up."
For more information on the Bulldog women's tennis program, visit HailState.com or search for "HailStateWT" on X, Instagram and Facebook.
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