Primed to make a run for its 15th consecutive NCAA appearance, the 2005-06 Mississippi State Men’s tennis team returns seven lettermen from last year’s squad.
State’s only loss from last season was due to graduation, as senior Louis Carvalho is the only member from last year’s team not returning.
The Bulldogs come off a 2004-05 campaign, ending the season ranked 25th in the final national poll, the highest final ranking by Bulldog tennis team since 2001.
The senior leadership role will fall on two sets of shoulders in the upcoming season. France native Florent Girod and Brazil native Jose-Carlos Pinto enter their last season in a Maroon and White uniform.
Girod comes off a solid junior campaign, ending the season with a 22-13 overall mark, including an 8-3 mark.. He reeled off 13 straight victories in dual matches against Southeastern Conference competition last spring. Girod knocked off the No. 78 nationally ranked player last fall in the Gator Invitational.
On the courts last season, Pinto and teammate Luiz Carvalho sustained a national ranking of 13th in the fall and climbed as high as 10th in doubles at the beginning of the 2005 spring season. Pinto and Carvalho reached the semifinals of the ITA All-American Championships early in the fall season, upsetting the second-ranked doubles team in the nation.
The duo held the No. 10 ranking for over a month as they started the spring, winning six of their first seven matches.
Pinto and Carvalho finished the year by competing at the NCAA Doubles Championship in College Station, Texas. In singles play last fall, Pinto upset the 19th-ranked player in the nation on his way to the round of 16 at the ITA Southeast Region Indoor Championships. In the spring, he climbed as high as 95th in singles, ending the year with a 15-15 overall record and a 6-5 mark in Southeastern Conference competition. This season Pinto joins Girod as a tandem that ranks 37th in the national preseason poll.
Perhaps two more bright spots this season could be sophomores Phillip Frayssinoux and Pierre Mouillon. Frayssinoux will enter the fall ranked 84th in the national preseason poll.
Last season, the Plaisir, France, native finished the season with a 12-9 record, including a 5-4 mark in SEC competition spending the majority of his time in the No. 2 and No. 3 spots in the MSU lineup.
Mouillon, a Le Perreux, France, native, posted a 14-7 mark overall and a 9-2 record in SEC matches. Mouillon is ranked 121st in the national preseason poll.
Two juniors that will be a mainstay in the lineup are Ivan Bjelica and Arnaud Roussel. Bjelica comes into the year with valuable experience at the No. 1 through three position in singles. Bjelica posted an impressive 5-3 mark at the No. 2 position last year and a 2-1 record at No. 3 singles.
Roussel was a consistent force for the Bulldogs last season at the No. 6 spot, sporting a 6-2 record last season. Josh Irey enters his second season with the Bulldog program as a sophomore giving MSU depth that it needs.
Head Coach Sylvain Guichard found two newcomers in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., native Eric Lim and Madison native Ryan Farlow.