? Tournament Central
STARKVILLE, Miss. ? The 72nd-ranked Mississippi State Lady Bulldog tennis squad will open play in the 2008 Southeastern Conference Championship Thursday in Auburn, Ala. The Lady Bulldogs, seeded 12th, will compete against fifth-seeded and 24th-ranked Tennessee in Thursday’s first round at 2 p.m. CT.
MSU (7-12, 0-11 SEC) closed out the season at home last weekend against in-state rival Mississippi in a 5-2 loss to the Lady Rebs. This season marks the first time the Bulldogs have finished the regular season ranked since the 2005-06 season in which they finished the regular season rated 27th.
Tennessee (13-8, 6-5) enters this weekend after closing out the regular season by suffering a 5-2 loss to No. 8 Georgia this past weekend. UT’s tandem of Caitlin Whoriskey and Zsofia Zubor enter the contest with a national ranking of 13th in doubles to lead the Lady Vols.
“Tennessee is a great matchup for us,” said head coach Tracy Lane. “We played them close during the regular season and I am excited to get to play them again in the tournament.”
In the prior match this season, played March 2 in Starkville, UT took a 5-2 decision from MSU. State took the doubles point and Elna de Villiers captured the other point for the Lady Bulldogs at the No. 5 singles position.
