Mississippi

Mississippi State women’s tennis wins two nail-biters, improves to 6-0

Published

2 years ago

February 6, 2024

Chris Hooshyar is still undefeated in his debut season as Mississippi State women’s tennis head coach after the Bulldogs beat Alabama-Birmingham 4-3 and Jackson State 6-1 on Saturday and then edged Belmont 4-3 on Sunday.

MSU took the doubles points against the Blazers, with the top pairing of Alexandra Mikhailuk and Maria Rizzolo and the No. 3 team of Dharani Niroshan and Alessia Tagliente each winning 6-3. Jayna Clemens gave the Bulldogs the first singles point with a 6-4, 6-2 victory at No. 5, but UAB won the next two completed matches to even the score.

Mikhailuk put the Bulldogs back in front with a three-set victory at No. 3, and after Taglente fell in a third-set tiebreak at No. 6, Chloé Cirotte took her match at No. 2 in three sets to clinch the victory.

“Obviously I was stressed a little bit, but I’ve been working on myself and my routine,” Cirotte told MSU athletic communications. “After every point, I’d hear (the fans) screaming for me and pushing me. But I’m still looking at what I have to do and didn’t get too excited until I’d win a point. I just reset after every point and focused on what I had to do.”

Against the Tigers later Saturday, Niroshan and Tagliente — now at No. 2 doubles — and Clemens and Rizzolo at No. 3 each won their matches 6-4 to give the Bulldogs the first point. Mikhailuk won her match at No. 2 singles when her opponent retired with Mikhailuk up a set, and Clemens dominated 6-3, 6-1 at No. 5. Niroshan also dropped just four games in her match to seal the win.

MSU fell behind against the Bruins on Sunday as the visitors won the doubles point despite a 6-2 victory at No. 3 from Niroshan and Tagliente. Clemens again cruised in her singles match, 6-2, 6-1, and after Athina Pitta lost in straight sets at No. 4, Mikhailuk evened the overall score at No. 3 with a 6-4, 7-6(4) win. Tagliente came back from a set down to win at No. 5, but a loss by Cirotte at No. 2 meant the match would come down to the final court.

Rizzolo, who had dropped the first set, won her second set 6-1, then outlasted her opponent in a third-set tiebreak to cap the perfect weekend. The Bulldogs (6-0) will now hit the road for the first time this season, heading to Memphis next Sunday.

“It felt great,” Rizzolo said. “I’ve never been in that situation before, so I was shaking a little. But after I won and having all my teammates come running toward me and hugging me was the best feeling.”

MSU men fall to Blue Raiders

The No. 22 Bulldogs lost their third straight match after starting the season with four consecutive wins, falling 4-3 at Middle Tennessee in a rematch of last year’s NCAA Tournament second round, which MSU won at home.

The Blue Raiders took the doubles point as the Bulldogs’ No. 2 team of Carles Hernandez and Dusan Milanovic and the No. 3 pairing of Marshall Landry and Nemanja Malesevic each lost 6-3. Petar Jovanovic, the No. 13 ranked singles player in the country, fell in straight sets to Middle Tennessee’s No. 25 Leo Raquin, and Hernandez also lost in two sets to put the Bulldogs in a 3-0 hole.

Milanovic gave MSU its first point with a 6-4, 6-4 victory at No. 4 singles, but Benito Sanchez Martinez fell in straight sets at No. 5 to wrap it up for the Blue Raiders. Radomir Tomic and Malesevic each won in three sets for the Bulldogs as the remaining matches were played out.

MSU (4-3) has a busy week ahead, traveling to Memphis on Wednesday and then returning home to take on North Florida on Friday and Virginia Commonwealth on Sunday. The Bulldogs fell to VCU 4-3 as part of the ITA Kickoff Weekend on Jan. 27.

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Mississippi

Mississippi turkey season bag limit, structure proposed for nonresident hunters

Published

11 hours ago

May 11, 2026

Press Room

Mississippi turkey season bag limit, structure proposed for nonresident hunters

‘We’re doing this to decrease the pressure we get early in the season. We’re trying to move that pressure on into later in the season.’

If a proposal made in the April meeting of the Mississippi Commission on Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks is finalized, nonresident turkey hunters will see big changes in the 2027 spring turkey season.

“We’re doing this in a way to impact how hunting pressure occurs and how the harvest happens in the early season,” said Caleb Hinton, Wild Turkey Program coordinator for the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks. “We’re doing this to decrease the pressure we get early in the season. We’re trying to move that pressure on into later in the season.”

Turkey hunters enjoy a three-bird bag limit and a little more than six weeks of hunting in spring, which is similar to some other states. What is at issue is when it opens. March 15 is the typical opening date for the regular season, making it one of the earliest in the nation.

That early opening date combined with a growing trend among turkey hunters is where the problem lies.

Mississippi is a destination for early season, nonresident hunters

Possibly more than any other group of hunters, turkey hunters like to travel. For some, it may be a matter of seeing a different landscape and hunting birds under condions they don’t encounter in their home state. For others it may be a quest to harvest each of the subspecies in North America.

For yet another group, it’s the challenge of harvesting a gobbler in each of the 49 states that have turkeys.

“It seems to be getting more and more popular every year,” Hinton said.

Regardless of why a turkey hunter chooses to travel, it puts a target on Mississippi’s back because for the first few weeks of the season, it’s almost the only game in town, so hunters flock to the state.

In an effort to curb the amount of hunting pressure in those first weeks of turkey season, MDWFP proposed limiting nonresident hunters to two legal gobblers per season and only one of those can be harvested before April 1.

“Hopefully, it will help curb the massive influx of pressure we get the first week or two of the season,” Hinton said.

When will turkey season changes for nonresidents be voted on?

The proposed changes aren’t the first that have been geared toward alleviating pressure on turkeys in the early part of the season by nonresidents. In 2022, the commission passed a rule requiring nonresident hunters to enter a drawing for a hunt on public land during the first two weeks of turkey season. Currently, the number of hunters drawn is limited to 800.

Like that change, the current proposal will pass or fail by a vote of the wildlife commission. In the April commission meeting, the proposal passed an initial vote. It is now in a 30-day public comment period and a final vote will be taken in the May meeting.

Public comments may be submitted at https://www.mdwfp.com/proposed-rules-regulations.

A lifelong outdoorsman and wildlife enthusiast, Brian Broom has been writing about hunting, fishing and Mississippi’s outdoors for the Clarion Ledger for more than 14 years. He can be reached at 601-961-7225 or bbroom@gannett.com.

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Mississippi

Mississippi high school addresses social media post, says it won’t tolerate racism or harassment

Published

23 hours ago

May 10, 2026

Press Room

Mississippi high school addresses social media post, says it won’t tolerate racism or harassment

LAUDERDALE COUNTY, Miss. (WLBT) – A Mississippi high school has made a statement after a social media post involving a student surfaced.

Northeast Lauderdale High School officials say they’re reviewing a social media post involving a student.

In a statement, the school said administrators are aware of the post and are “reviewing the situation.”

The school said it is committed to maintaining a safe, orderly and respectful environment for students and staff.

“Neither our district nor our school accept or condone racism, discrimination, harassment, or behavior that is inconsistent with the expectations of our school community,” the statement said.

Officials said they are working with the appropriate parties and will address the matter in accordance with district policies and procedures.

The school added that it cannot share additional details because of student privacy laws.

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Mississippi

Ryan McPherson injury update, Mississippi State star hurts ankle, exits Auburn game

Published

1 day ago

May 10, 2026

Press Room

Ryan McPherson injury update, Mississippi State star hurts ankle, exits Auburn game

(This story was updated to add new information.)

STARKVILLE — Mississippi State baseball starting pitcher Ryan McPherson exited his May 9 return against Auburn with an ankle injury, according to coach Brian O’Connor.

McPherson tripped behind home plate while backing up a potential throw in the second inning and limped back to the mound. The MSU coaches and trainer examined McPherson before pulling him.

McPherson was making his first start since March 20 after suffering a forearm strain.

The No. 11 Bulldogs (38-14, 15-12 SEC) trailed the No. 6 Tigers (35-15, 16-11) by one run with one out in the inning before getting run-ruled 13-2 in seven innings at Dudy Noble Field.

McPherson threw 34 pitches in 1⅓ innings with one earned and one unearned run allowed, two hits, no walks and no strikeouts.

He did not throw a practice pitch while being examined, and he didn’t limp as he walked into the dugout, either.

Ryan McPherson injury update from Brian O’Connor

O’Connor revealed after the game that McPherson was on a 40-pitch limit, so he was likely going to get pulled soon anyway.

“I would hate for the young man to have a setback because he goes out there and tries to throw to another batter or two and changes this delivery because of an ankle (injury),” O’Connor said. “So that’s what went into that decision. It’s unfortunate, but it was good to get him back out there.”

McPherson, a sophomore, missed six straight starts with his forearm injury. He took Charlie Foster’s spot in the pitching rotation for the Auburn series.

One series remains at Texas A&M before the SEC Tournament.

“We’ll see how he recovers from this and then to see what his availability will be for next weekend,” O’Connor said.