Lumsden Grateful To Spend His Last Season At MSU

STARKVILLE – Ewen Lumsden enjoyed a successful tennis career at the University of Washington earning All-Pac 12 honorable mention as well as being ranked in both singles and doubles during his four years with the Huskies.

But after receiving his undergraduate degree in education, Lumsden decided to use the extra year of eligibility awarded to student-athletes by the NCAA for the shortened 2020 season at Mississippi State.

“I’ve really always wanted to transfer to the SEC after a few of my friends transferred to the SEC,” Lumsden said. “They said it’s the best conference. I’ve always known that Mississippi State was a really good team and had great coaches. I knew all of their guys were fully committed and want to play professionally so I knew the training would be amazing.”

Lumsden did not visit MSU during the recruiting process but all of his presumptions about the Bulldogs’ program turned out to be true whenever he enrolled this past fall.

“I remember the first practice being so hard and I cramped in the ice bath,” Lumsden said. “But the guys made me feel very welcomed to the team and I didn’t feel like it took very long to get adjusted to them. They’re all really great guys too.”

Lumsden has been clutch for State all season. The Glasgow, Scotland native is 16-5 overall on the year in singles and has posted a 12-3 mark during dual match play this spring, winning 10 of his last 12 singles matches.

“Ewen always comes to the courts with a smile and has showed so much consistency in his work ethic and competitiveness,” said head coach Matt Roberts. “He makes everyone around him better with how he approaches each practice and match and how he fights every point. We wish we had more years with Ewen as he has been a perfect example of what a Bulldog is on and an off the court.”

Lumsden is currently tied for the team lead having clinched four matches for the Bulldogs this spring. One of the matches Lumsden clinched was against No. 79 Jonah Braswell to earn a critical victory against then 19^th-ranked Florida.

The win over Braswell and the Gators was special to Lumsden. He had Braswell on the ropes 6-4, 6-6 before his match was abandon when Mississippi State fell to Florida in Gainesville as part of ITA Kickoff Weekend.

“It meant a lot because we’d had a close match with them earlier in the year,”…