BULLDOG BITS

Football

Mississippi State head football coach Zach Arnett finalized the Director of Player Development, Director of Player Personnel and Director of High School Relations roles on his staff Friday.

• Jason Washington – Director of Player Development

• Joey Jones – Director of Player Personnel

• Steve Campbell – Director of High School Relations

The trio of Washington, Jones and Campbell brings more than 75 years of combined experience as coaches and players inside Mississippi State's recruiting footprint of Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, Louisiana and Arkansas. Washington (2020-22), Jones (2018-19) and Campbell (2003) have each previously served as onfield coaches at Mississippi State during their careers.

Washington, who coached the Bulldogs safeties from 2020-21 and running backs during the 2022 season, has been an integral part of the Bulldogs' success and asset to the team and staff in recent years. In 2022, running back Jo'quavious Marks led the Southeastern Conference in receiving yards among running backs. Prior to MSU, Washington spent three seasons at Texas (2017-19) as the Longhorns' recruiting coordinator and cornerbacks coach. He was selected the Big 12's top recruiter in 2018 by 247Sports. Throughout his career, Washington has coached 10 players who have reached the NFL.

A native of San Antonio, Washington earned a bachelor's degree in 2002 and a master's degree in sport administration in 2004 from Texas State. He was a fouryear letterman for the Bobcats in football and baseball. He started as a defensive back in football and was a center fielder on the baseball team.

Jones previously served as the Bulldogs' special teams coordinator from 2018-19 after nine seasons as head coach at South Alabama where he guided the Jaguars to 52 victories and two bowl appearances. Success has followed Jones throughout his career, both as a coach and as a player. Before moving into the collegiate ranks, he compiled an impressive 125-38 record in 13 years at the high-school level, including a 10-year run at Birmingham's Mountain Brook High, where he was 101-27 from 1996-2005.

A 1989 graduate of Alabama with a degree in business administration, Jones became one of the most beloved Crimson Tide players during his tenure, which began under the tutelage of legendary coach Paul "Bear" Bryant. He finished his career with 71 receptions, 1,386 yards and 15 touchdowns, ranking fourth on the career touchdown receptions chart and seventh in career receiving yards. In April 2011, Jones was inducted into the Mobile Sports Hall of Fame.

Campbell's impressive coaching résumé includes three national championships as both a player and a coach. A three-time National Coach of the Year, Campbell owns a 168-79 (.680) record across two decades while leading four different institutions including Southwest Mississippi CC (1997-98), Delta State (1999-2001), Mississippi Gulf Coast CC (2004-13), Central Arkansas (2014-17) and South Alabama (201820). In his first 19 seasons as a head coach, Campbell never guided a team that finished with a losing record while compiling a 159-53 overall mark.

A native of Pensacola, Florida, Campbell played at Tate High School under legendary coach Carl Madison from 1980-83. Campbell received his undergraduate degree in economics from Troy in 1988, and a master's degree in business administration from Auburn in 1990.

Men’s Tennis

Mississippi State's men's tennis team remained unbeaten at home following a 4-3 win over Tulane inside the Rula Tennis Pavilion on Friday.

The Bulldogs secured the first three points of the afternoon and clinched the victory at 4-1 before the Green Wave closed out the remaining two matches.

"One of the key takeaways today was about the boys building their resilience," MSU head coach Matt Roberts said. "Every match is going to have challenges. Welcoming those challenges like a Bulldog is going to allow them to grow and build their confidence."

MSU (6-1) earned what proved to be a pivotal doubles point to start the day. Petar Jovanovic and Gregor Ramskogler downed Fynn Kuenkler and Sam Scherer 6-4 to open the match but the Green Wave quickly evened things up as Luka Petrovic and Luc Hoejimans defeated Michal Novansky and Benito Sanchez Martinez by the same score.

However, the 42ndranked Bulldog tandem of Carles Hernandez and Nemanja Malesevic were able to edge out Charlie Barry and Benji Jacobson in a tiebreaker 7-6(5) to earn the valuable first point.

Jovanovic, ranked 107th in singles, made short work of Petrovic 6-1, 6-2 for his 10th straight win and Ewen Lumsden quickly followed suit with a 6-3, 6-2 victory against Hoejimans to put State ahead 3-0.

After Sanchez Martinez fell to Rafael de Alba 7-5, 6-4, Malesevic was able to clinch the match for the Bulldogs against Kuenkler, who is ranked 87th nationally.

Malesevic fell behind after losing a first set tiebreaker 6-7(6) but was able to fight back to dominate the final two sets 6-3, 6-0 to earn his second ranked win of the year in singles.

"(Tulane) pushed us and I saw that it could get tricky," Malesevic said. "I had to really lock it in because I might be the one to clinch.

But I also didn't want to think too much about it. It went through my head but I tried to delete that as fast as I could and focus on the next point and that worked out pretty well."

Hernandez and Novansky both suffered their first singles losses of the dual match season, each in three sets. Billy Suarez knocked off Hernandez 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 while Scherer topped Novansky 6-4, 6-7(5), 6-2.

Mississippi State is back in action today hosting a doubleheader against Presbyterian and Jackson State. The Bulldogs begin the day against Presbyterian at 9 a.m. and will take on Jackson State later that afternoon at 3 p.m. as part of a quadruple header with the women's team.

Presbyterian is 2-5 for the year and coming off a 4-3 loss at UNC Wilmington on Jan. 29. The Blue Hose features the nation's No. 63 singles competitor in Dusan Milanovic as well as the 22nd-ranked doubles tandem of Milanovic and Maxwell Benson.

The series between the Bulldogs and Blue Hose is tied 1-1 all-time. MSU won the previous meeting 5-4 in Starkville on April 12, 1973.

Jackson State dropped its only match of the year thus far 6-1 at home to Jacksonville State on Jan. 28.

Mississippi State is a perfect 6-0 against the Tigers, winning by a combined score of 41-1. The Bulldogs claimed a 6-1 victory against Jackson State in Starkville last season.

Women’s Tennis

Mississippi State women's tennis is back in action against Memphis and Jackson State in a doubleheader today.

The opening match against Memphis is slated to start at noon and the next match against Jackson State begins at 6 p.m.

MSU has had its fair share of success against Memphis, having won 16 straight in the series and 19 of the last 26 matchups since 1975. The Bulldogs secured a 4-1 victory during the last meeting between the two programs in Starkville on Jan. 22, 2022 and leads the overall series 19-7.

The Bulldogs have also found success against Jackson State. State is 3-0 against the Tigers, with the last meeting between the two teams coming on Jan. 18, 2015, with the Bulldogs blanking Jackson State 7-0.

With her next singles win, Emmanouela Antonaki will stand alone at the No. 1 spot in the MSU record book with 91 career singles wins. Anotnaki and Chloé Cirotte are both 6-1 in dual match play and tied for the team lead for head coach Daryl Greenan's squad.

No. 61 Maria Rizzolo has won three matches this season and is 7-4 overall. Alexandra Mikhailuk has continued her success from the fall by being 9-5 overall and 4-1 in dual play this season.

Antonaki and partner Gia Cohen have been victorious in four of their last five matches and are currently riding a three-match winning streak.