May 14, 2004

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. - Mississippi State captured a 4-2 win over Wake Forest in first round action at the 2004 NCAA Men's Tennis Tournament, held at Virginia's Snyder Tennis Center on Friday afternoon.

The Bulldogs now face host and No. 6 seed Virginia in second round action on Saturday, May 15 at 1 p.m. at UVa's Snyder Tennis Center. The event is open to the public.

"It was a tough match," said MSU head coach Sylvain Guichard. "It could have gone either way. We have the same kind of team. We're getting stronger down the stretch."

Wake Forest won the doubles' point as Brett Ross and Derrick Spice won at the No. 1 spot, 8-5. Todd Paul and Andrew Simpson won at No. 3, 8-5.

At No. 1 singles, MSU's Romain Ambert defeated Spice, 6-0, 7-5. José-Carlos Pinto disposed of Paul, 6-4, 7-6 at the No. 2 spot. At the No. 4, Ross captured the Demon Deacons' only win in singles action, 6-2, 6-3. At No. 5, Florent Girod lost the first set before claiming the 2-6, 6-2, 6-2 win. In the decisive match at the No. 6 spot, Arnaud Roussel gave MSU the first round victory with a 6-4, 7-6 win.

The match ended the Wake Forest careers' of Loewenthal and Simpson. Loewenthal finished his Wake Forest career second on the all-time singles victory list with 101. In fact, he is just the second Deac to ever eclipse 100 career singles victories. Loewenthal's 72 career doubles wins place him in fourth place all-time.

Simpson finished the season at 9-9 in singles action and 37-23 for his career. Simson went 12-10 in doubles play this season and 42-40 for his career.

The winner of the second round match will advance with the winner of the other 15 regionals to the NCAA Championships May 22-25 in Tulsa, Okla.

Mississippi State 4, Wake Forest 2
Singles
1 - Romain Ambert (MSU) def. Derrick Spice 6-0, 7-5
2 - José-Carlos Pinto (MSU) def. Todd Paul 6-4, 7-6
3 - Luiz Carvalho (MSU) vs. David Loewenthal DNF
4 - Brett Ross (WF) def. Max Fomine 6-2, 6-3
5 - Florent Girod (MSU) def. Andrew Hamar 2-6, 6-2, 6-2
6 - Arnaud Roussel (MSU) def. Andrew Simpson 6-4, 7-6

Doubles
1 - Ross/Spice (WF) def. Carvalho/Girod 8-5
2 - Ambert/Fomine (MSU) vs. Hamar/Loewenthal DNF
3 - Paul/Simpson (WF) def. Provenzano/Roussel 8-5