BULLDOG BITS

Cross Country

LEXINGTON, Ky. – The Mississippi State women's cross country team earned a 12th-place finish on Friday over a 6K course at the Southeastern Conference Cross Country Championships.

Sylvia Russell paced the Bulldogs, finishing 43rd with a time of 21:21.6.

After Russell's finish, Sydney Steely (78th), Silvia De La Pena Garibay (83rd), Kristy Terp (85th) and Breja Hooks (89th) rounded out the top five for MSU.

Top-ranked Arkansas took the team title in the women's 6K with 21 points and five top10 finishers.

Next, the Bulldogs will compete in the 2019 NCAA South Region Championships on Nov. 15 in Tallahassee, Florida.

Men’s Tennis

DALLAS, Texas – The sun has set in Texas once again at the Ralston-neufeld Coaches Challenge and the Mississippi State men's tennis team collected an impressive seven wins on day 2 with junior Florian Broska going undefeated once again in singles and doubles.

The new duo of Broska and freshman Nicolas Ocana looked to continue their win streak, taking on Wichita State's Stefan Latinovic and Rafael Serra. The Bulldogs wasted no time, claiming the match comfortably 8-4. The duo will now prepare to play fellow Southeastern Conference

competitors Jose Dominguez Alonso and Enrique Paya of Arkansas today at 8 a.m. in the semifinals.

Broska also looked to continue his impressive performance in singles as he took on Texas Tech's Ilgeiz Valiev in the quarterfinals of the Red Flight. The junior went back and forth early on with Valiev, ultimately claiming the close match 7-6(2), 6-4. In the semifinals, Broska faced Wichita State's Murkel Deillien, cruising to a 6-3, 6-3 triumph. Broska will play for the title of the Red Flight today at 10 a.m., meeting Orel Ovil of Wichita State.

True freshman Davide Tortora took on Caleb Chakravarthi of host SMU in Saturday's quarters, winning 7-6(1), 6-3. After the match, Tortora regrouped to play in the semifinals of the Red Flight versus Wichita State's Ovil. The freshman battled strong, taking the match to three sets, but finally falling 6-4, 4-6, 6-3. Tortora will compete again today in consolation play.

The all-freshmen Bulldog tandem of Isaac Becroft and Tortora met UT Arlington's Ricardo Alban and Solano Caffarena in consolation play Saturday. State's pair prevailed 6-2 and they will meet Will Peters and Kabir Sarita of Princeton today in the consolation semifinals.

Becroft continued his singles campaign in the consolation side of the White Flight as he faced UTA'S Cafferna, winning by default. The Bulldog then battled Baylor's Christopher Frantzen, falling 6-3, 6-2.

Becroft will play a final consolation match today.

Ocana also continued play as he met Princeton's Bill Duo, falling 6-3, 7-5 in his White Flight consolation opener. The freshman then refocused and bounced back to oust Misha Kyantaliani of Tyler JC 6-3, 6-1. He will play again today.

Volleyball

AUBURN, Ala. – Julie Darty's first-career Southeastern Conference road victory can be defined by one word: sweep.

Not only did Mississippi State volleyball (13-10, 2-9 SEC) win in straight sets at Auburn (6-14, 0-9 SEC) Friday night, MSU swept the season series with the Tigers after beating them in four sets a week earlier in Starkville.

“What a huge win for the Bulldogs,” Darty said. “We came in with a laser-like focus and it just seemed like we were calm and composed from the beginning, even when we had some stretches when we let Auburn get ahead by a couple points. We held it together and just decided to gut it out.”

The victory was MSU'S second road sweep of the season as the Bulldogs took down Southern Miss in Hattiesburg on Sept. 6. Additionally, it was State's first conference road sweep since Sept. 23, 2016 at Tennessee.

The second win in 2019 conference play doubles MSU'S total in 2018, Darty's first season at the helm.

Junior libero Kanani Price led the Bulldog defense with 15 digs. Outside hitters Callie Minshew and Paige Shaw also turned in double-digit dig performances, as each studentathlete tallied 10.

Shaw had a strong match overall as the sophomore added six kills, two service aces and three solo blocks.

Alleah Stamatis just missed a double-double, picking up 28 assists and eight digs. The senior has nine double-doubles on the season.

“Alleah had a great night moving the ball around and keeping everybody honest,” Darty said.

Senior Amarrah Cooks led all Bulldog attackers with eight kills. Minshew and sophomore Gabby Waden each had seven.

MSU plays at LSU today with match time set for 1 p.m.

Women’s Basketball

Fans can enjoy lunch and basketball talk with the No. 10 Mississippi State women's basketball team as a new season of Hail State Hoops luncheons begins Nov. 19.

The luncheon series will be held in Mize Pavilion beginning at 11:30 a.m. Doors open at 11:15 a.m.

Costs will be $15 for each ticket, cash or check at the door, or fans can purchase a $75 bundle in advance that covers all dates. The luncheon bundle includes admission to all seven luncheons and entry into the drawings to win a door prize.

Limited spots are available for the luncheons, and RSVPS will be on a first come, first served basis. Fans can RSVP for the luncheons by calling 662-325-0198 or e-mailing areed@athletics. msstate.edu.

Each lunch features a full meal and hoops talk with head coach Vic Schaefer, his staff and members of the 10th-ranked Bulldog team that is coming off of backto-back Southeastern Conference championships and three straight Elite Eights.

Women’s Tennis

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The Mississippi State women's tennis team registered a 6-3 ledger (5-1 in singles) on the final day of the Roberta Alison Fall Classic Saturday with one doubles team claiming the consolation crown in their draw, as well as one singles player doing the same.

State opened day two with doubles action. Sara Lizariturry and Meredith Roberts claimed the consolation crown in the Leslie Grossman Draw, overpowering Ayana Akli and Eva Alexandrova of Maryland 6-3.

In the finals of the Hilde Otterman Draw, State's duo of Emma Antonaki and Valeria Nikolaev were handed a 6-0 defeat by Northwestern's Inci Ogut and Vanessa Streng.

After making it to the finals of the Millie Begovic Draw, Marta Falceto and Tamara Racine retired at 4-1 down against Alabama's Luca Fabian and Ann Selim when Racine suffered an injury.

Antonaki – ranked 41st nationally – kicked off singles action on day two with a victory over Laura Bente of Memphis 7-6(2), 6-1 in the Nancy Harris Draw's 7th place match.

Against Indiana's Lexi Kubas in the third place match of the Alice Tunaru Draw, the rookie Falceto came out victorious with an impressive 7-5, 6-1 margin.

After recording her first collegiate singles victory on Friday in the Mary Anne Macfarlane Draw consolation bracket, the redshirt freshman Nikolaev defeated Matea Mihaljevic of Troy 6-1, 7-5 to claim the consolation crown in that draw.

The senior Lizariturry, playing in the third place match of the Amy Mascotii Draw, recorded a marathon win for the Bulldogs against Clemson's Laura Marti Saturday, digging deep to pull out a tight three-set battle 5-7, 6-4, 7-6(5).

In the third place match of the Alexa Guarachi Draw, Wisconsin's Ava Markham handed the Bulldogs their only singles loss of the day as Racine fell in a three-set battle 1-6, 6-4, 6-2.

After her consolation opponent withdrew, Roberts competed in an extra match against Kansas State's Sofia Pinedo, cruising past the Wildcat 6-3, 6-3.

MSU finished the tournament with a 13-10 record for a .656 win percentage, marking their highest this fall in a single event.

The Bulldogs will conclude the 2019 fall slate Nov. 8-10 at the Arizona State Invitational in Tempe, Arizona.