The Mississippi State men’s tennis team became a part of history last year when they were invited to the NCAA Championship for the 12th consecutive year, joining only seven teams countrywide with that honor.
The Bulldog netters have also appeared in the preseason top 25 for 12 consecutive years including Mondays’ Omni Hotels Collegiate Rankings that had the Bulldogs No. 25.
“We are very excited about our preseason top 25 ranking,” MSU head coach Sylvain Guichard said. “Our team is eager to prove that we are better than our No. 28 finish last season. We have a very experienced team along with a couple of talented newcomers and we are ready to begin working hard.”
The Bulldogs will be returning seven lettermen in 2003, including junior Romain Ambert and senior Rene-Charles Combette.
Ambert, a native of Toulouse, France, was ranked 3rd nationally in singles prior to the fall semester. He is not ranked in the spring due to not playing the fall term. Ambert has compiled a 64-22 overall record in singles and was an all-American selection last season after posting a 37-11 record. He was also named the ITA’s National Player to Watch and was a first-team, all-SEC selection for the second consecutive year.
Senior Rene-Charles Combette has been ranked as high as 24th in his career and has an overall singles record of 64-48. Combette is only 24 victories away from MSU’s career top 10 in overall doubles and singles wins with 133.
In the new poll Monday Combette was ranked 76th in the nation.
The Mississippi State men’s tennis team will begin spring play this weekend at the SEC Indoor Championships in Atlanta, Ga. The Bulldogs open this year’s duel match season at home against in-state rival Southern Miss next Thursday at 2 p.m.
The Bulldog netters will not start conference play until Feb. 13 when they play other in-state rival Mississippi in the River Hills Mississippi Cup.
The Mississippi State women’s team will try and improve on last years 1-10 mark in Southeastern Conference play not to mention an overall record of 5-16.
The Lady Bulldogs will begin spring play at home against Centenary Jan. 18.
Elaine Fagan, a native of Dublin, Ireland, will be the only senior on the Lady Bulldogs squad. She will be accompanied by the only two-year letterman on the squad, junior Yumi Ueda.
The Lady Bulldog netters will welcome a newcomer to the team for the 2003-2004 season in Brittany Serret. Head women’s tennis coach Tracy Lane announced the signing of Serret of Ocean Springs, Miss., to a national letter-of-intent to play for the Lady Bulldogs.
Admission to all MSU tennis events is free for Mississippi State students.