State Women?s Tennis To Face Houston In NCAA First Round Friday
BERKELEY, Calif. – After earning its first bid in the NCAA Team Championship since 2005, the 33rd-ranked Mississippi State women’s tennis team will open tournament action against 30th-ranked Houston Friday at 12 p.m. CT at the University of California’s Hellman Tennis Complex.
Live video will be provided by calbears.com for Friday’s match. Should the Bulldogs advance, MSU will play again on Saturday against the winner of third-ranked and regional host Cal or Bryant University for the right to advance to the NCAA round of 16 in Waco, Texas, on May 15.
MSU enters the tournament at 15-11 overall and carries two ranked players in singles, including First Team All-SEC selection Jasmine Lee at 23rd and junior Georgiana Patrasc at 107th. Lee, who finished the regular season at 16-6 overall at the No. 1 position, also earned a bid to the NCAA Singles Championship, while Patrasc earned 22 overall wins on the season.
At the middle of the lineup is sophomore Martina Frantova and freshman Louise Ronaldson. Frantova earned 12 dual match victories in her first season on the active roster, while Ronaldson collected two SEC Freshman of the Week honors, as well as 18 total singles wins. Both players have rotated between the No. 3 and No. 4 positions, with Frantova tallying eight of her 12 dual match victories at the No. 3 position.
State also possesses some power at the bottom of the lineup with freshman Jennifer Brown and sophomore Timea Guibe. At the No. 5 slot, Brown earned a 20-10 mark on the overall season, earning the most victories by a freshman since Andrea Lord won 23 matches in 1998-99. Guibe began the year with an impressive 11-0 mark at the No. 6 position, ending the season with a 13-6 dual match record.
In doubles, the Bulldogs are led by the duo of Frantova and Patrasc, who are 51st in the ITA doubles rankings. Despite a 2-5 record on the season, the duo turned heads by upsetting 40th-ranked Hadley Berg and Caroline Dailey of South Carolina in the second round of the SEC Championship on Apr. 16 to clinch that big win for the Bulldogs. Lee and Tran, and Guibe and Ronaldson are State’s other two duos entering NCAAs.
State’s first-round foe, Houston (22-5), won a school record 18 straight matches from Feb. 20 – April 17 of this year. The Cougars, which reached the American Conference Championship finals, also set a program high by defeating 11 nationally ranked opponents in 2015. Senior Elena Kordolaimi leads the Cougars with 32 singles victories, including 24 dual wins, which matches a program record. She is ranked 105th nationally. Sophomore Despoina Vogasari is Houston's highest-ranked singles performer, at No. 77 and has won a career-high 29 singles matches this season.
For more information on Mississippi State women's tennis and updates, fans can follow the Bulldogs on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at HailStateWT.
2015 NCAA Women's Tennis Championship - First & Second Rounds
May 8-9, 2015 – Hellman Tennis Complex – Berkeley, Calif.
5/8/15 - First Round
Match 1 - 10 a.m. PT (12 p.m. CT) – No. 34 Mississippi State vs. No. 29 Houston
Match 2 - 1 p.m. PT (3 p.m. CT) – No. 3 Cal vs. Bryant
5/9/14 - Second Round
Match 3 - 12 p.m. PT (2 p.m. CT) - Match 1 Winner vs. Match 2 Winner**
**-winner advances to NCAA Round of 16 in Waco, Texas, on May 15
Schedule subject to change