MSU Netmen Earn 15th-Straight NCAA Bid; To Meet VCU In First Round At Duke
STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Mississippi State's men's tennis team learned Wednesday afternoon that it will compete in the first round of the 64-team 2005 NCAA Championship Friday, May 13, in Durham, N.C. State's first-round NCAA site, which will be one of 16 nationally, will be hosted by Duke University. Wednesday's selection marks the Bulldogs' 15th-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 (12-9), currently ranked 23rd nationally, will meet 41st-ranked Virginia Commonwealth (16-10), next Friday at the Ambler Tennis Stadium on the Duke campus in a match that will begin not before 1 p.m. ET (start time will be determined by conclusion of morning match). If State wins that contest, the Bulldogs would advance to play the winner between eighth-ranked host Duke (who is the country's No. 9 seed overall) and South Carolina State on Saturday, May 14, 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 21-24 in College Station, Texas.
The Bulldogs and Rams have met in men's tennis on only one previously recorded occasion, with State taking a 6-0 decision from VCU in the consolation draw of the 1995 Blue-Gray Classic in Montgomery, Ala. Like State, VCU also has an impressive string of NCAA appearances going. With Wednesday's selection, the Rams have now gained 13 consecutive bids.
"Needless to say, we are very happy to be back in the NCAAs again this season," MSU head coach Sylvain Guichard, who was named 2005 Southeastern Conference Co-Coach of the Year, said. "We have had a successful season and have worked very hard to gain our program's 15th-straight selection to the tournament. We are very proud of that and look forward to the opportunity to play for the national title.
"VCU will be a very tough match for us in the first round. They have struggled at times this season, which has kept them down in the rankings. But they are a much, much better team than No. 41 in the country. They finished in the top 15 last season. We will have to prepare well for that match if we have hopes of moving on in the tournament."
MSU's 15-year streak of appearances in the NCAAs began in 1991. The Bulldogs are 15-14 in the tournament in that time span. In the 15 appearances, State has reached the round of 16 11 times, the quarterfinals five times, and the national semifinals twice. MSU has earned 19 NCAA bids in men's tennis overall, as it also made the field four consecutive seasons in the 1960s (1965-68) when the event was in an individual format.
The Southeastern Conference's power was once again very evident in the NCAA field this season, with 10 of the league's 12 teams earning bids to the 64-team field. State had the biggest turnaround in the league in '05, going from 2-9 last season to 6-5 this year.
The selections for the NCAA Singles and Doubles Championships, to be played May 25-30 in College Station, will be released Thursday. The Bulldog doubles duo of Luiz Carvalho and Jose-Carlos Pinto, currently ranked 29th nationally, could possibly earn a bid to the 32-team doubles draw.
MSU IN THE 2005 NCAA MEN'S TENNIS TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP
First and Second Rounds
May 13-14, 2005 Durham, N.C.
Friday, May 13
#8 Duke vs. South Carolina State 10 a.m. ET
#23 Mississippi State vs. #41 Virginia Commonwealth - not before 1 p.m. ET
Saturday, May 14
Second Round Match (to advance to round of 16 at College Station, Texas) - 1 p.m. ET
(numbers preceding team names indicate current ITA national rankings)