Bulldog blast tennis event has 57 competitors

June 3, 2012

Steve Elder returns a serve in the men's 9.0 championship match during the Bulldog Blast tennis tournament at MSU's Pitts Tennis Centre on Sunday. (Photo by Michael Wardlaw, SDN)

Mississippi State Alumni Association’s Starkville Chapter had a record turn out for their annual Bulldog Blast tennis tournament over the weekend.

There were 57 area tennis enthusiasts that competed inside MSU’s A.J. Pitts Tennis Centre to help raise money for scholarships for local youth attending Mississippi State University. 

“We had a great turn out this season and we are very pleased,” said event coordinator Robert Cadenhead. “We held this event last year and had 36 total players, so we are pleased with the growth.  

“We had a Men’s A and B. We actually had three groups for the ladies with an A, B and C. We also had two mixed doubles.”

In the past, the tennis event was a fall fundraiser but this year the committee opted to take advantage of a unique time slot in the summer. 

“We’ve held this event in conjunction with the annual golf tournament in the past but this year we decided to catch this time slot,” Cadenhead said. “The state, league tournament is next weekend down on the coast so a lot of people look at this event as a good time to play some warm weather tennis and get ready for that tournament.”

The record turnout helps more than a dozen local students in financial need attend Mississippi State.

“Last year we awarded 14 scholarships to local kids and we generally have enough money to help a little bit where we can,” Cadenhead said. 

This year’s winners in each category were Steve Elder and Michael Seymour in men's 9.0, Ben Sanford and Evan Sanford in men's 7.5, Mona Howell and Amanda Howell in ladies 6.0, Julie Rester and Jeni Henderson in ladies 7.0, Debra Riley and Julie Ready in ladies 8.0, Elizabeth Sanford and Evan Sanford in mixed 8.0, and Jarrod Morris and Kim Prestridge in mixed 7.0.

(Editor's Note: Photos of the winners from each division will be published in Wednesday's sports section of The Starkville Daily News.)