MSU Netmen Earn 14th-Straight NCAA Bid; To Meet Wake Forest In First Round At Virginia
STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Mississippi State's men's tennis team learned Wednesday afternoon that it will compete in the first round of the 64-team 2004 NCAA Championship Friday, May 14, in Charlottesville, Va. State's first-round NCAA site, which will be one of 16 nationally, will be hosted by the University of Virginia. Wednesday's selection marks the Bulldogs' 14th-consecutive appointment to the NCAA Team Championship field, one of only seven schools (Florida, Georgia, MSU, Southern Cal, Stanford, TCU and UCLA) in the nation that have earned that distinction.
MSU (8-13), currently ranked 29th nationally, will meet 42nd-ranked Wake Forest (11-10), next Friday at the Sheridan Snyder Tennis Center on the UVA campus at 2 p.m. ET. If State wins that contest, the Bulldogs would advance to play the winner between 10th-ranked host Virginia (who is the country's No. 6 seed overall) and American University on Saturday, May 15, at 1 p.m. ET in the second round. The Saturday contest would be for a spot in the NCAA Team Championship's round of 16, which will be held May 22-25 in Tulsa, Okla.
The Bulldogs and Demon Deacons have met in men's tennis on only four previously recorded occasions, with State leading 3-1, and have not clashed since the 1991 season. That year, MSU took a 6-2 decision over WFU in the first round of the Miami Quad in Miami, Fla. The teams also split decisions in Starkville in 1972 and 1973, and MSU claimed a 5-1 victory in a neutral site affair in Knoxville, Tenn., in 1990.
"Our team is very happy to be back in the NCAAs again this season," Sylvain Guichard, who has now guided his first three teams as State's head coach into the national championship field, said. "Our guys have been through a lot this season, and have worked extremely hard to gain our program's 14th-straight selection to the tournament. We are very proud of that fact. Wake Forest will be a difficult match for us in the first round. They played a solid schedule this year and had some good wins. We look forward to representing our university in the national championship once again."
The Southeastern Conference's power was once again very evident in the NCAA field this season, with all 12 of the league's teams earning bids to the 64-team field for the third time in the last four years.
The selections for the NCAA Singles and Doubles Championships, to be played May 26-31 in Tulsa, will be released Thursday. Senior Bulldog Romain Ambert, currently ranked 37th nationally, is expected to earn his fourth and final bid to the 64-player singles field. The Toulouse, France, native, injured for much of this spring, is a two-time, all-American and four-time, all-SEC choice.
MSU IN THE 2004 NCAA MEN'S TENNIS TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP
First and Second Rounds
May 14-15, 2004 - Charlottesville, Va.
Friday, May 14
#10 Virginia vs. American - 10 a.m. ET
#29 Mississippi State vs. #42 Wake Forest - 2 p.m. ET
Saturday, May 15
Second Round Match (to advance to round of 16 at Tulsa, Okla.) - 1 p.m. ET
(numbers preceding team names indicate current ITA national rankings)