OXFORD, Miss. – The Missouri State women's tennis team will take on No. 5 Ole Miss on Friday, May 11 at 3 p.m. at the Palmer/Salloum Tennis Center in the first round of the NCAA Women's Tennis Tournament.
The Bears (12-9), appearing in their first NCAA tournament since 2002, captured the 2018 Missouri Valley Conference Championship after defeating Northern Iowa in the championship match at Cooper Tennis Complex on April 29. Missouri State also defeated Bradley and top-seed Drake in the quarterfinals.
Junior
Fati Khamissi leads the Bears with a 16-4 record at No. 4 singles. The All-Conference selection at No. 4 singles and No. 3 doubles is on a current eight-match singles winning streak, including a 5-0 record against league opponents.
No. 5 Ole Miss, posted 20-6 record this season and went 9-4 in the SEC. The Rebels' nine-match winning streak was snapped by Vanderbilt in SEC Tournament semifinals. This is the first time since 2012 that Ole Miss will host the first- and second-round matches.
Also playing in Oxford, Wichita State will take on Syracuse at 12 p.m. on Friday. The winners of both matches will battle on Saturday at 2 p.m. for the chance to advance to compete for the national championship.
While Missouri State has never faced Syracuse in program history, the Bears are very familiar with the Shockers. WSU holds a 24-8 series advantage over MSU and fell 0-7 in the squads last MVC match up on Jan. 26, 2017.
Fans can purchase tickets for $7 for a single day admission or $10 for a weekend pass.
First- and second-round competition takes place May 11-12 and features four teams playing in a single-elimination format. The winner of each site advances to the Wake Forest Tennis Complex in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, where the 16 teams will compete for the national championship May 17-22. The event will be hosted by Wake Forest University.
For all of the latest information on the Missouri State women's tennis team, visit
MissouriStateBears.com or follow @MSUBearsTennis on
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