Alumni rivalries unite on the tennis courts to support scholarships

Mississippi State alumnus Bill Allen (right) and Ole Miss graduate Sonny Mitchell are co-chairs of the Ole Miss-MSU Tennis Invitational. Pam Steele (left) and Lea Margaret McLaurin are two of the MSU alumnae who helped plan this year's tennis weekend.

Who would have believed alumni of Mississippi State and Ole Miss working together? The two schools have long been known for their heated rivalries, but not in the Mississippi Delta. At least not over one long weekend each April.

There aren't too many times the two schools hook up for a common cause. But in Greenville, alumni of Mississippi State and Ole Miss have been teaming together since 1983 to raise scholarship money for their respective alma maters.

The 16th annual Ole Miss-Mississippi State (the school that wins the Egg Bowl each November gets top billing) Tennis Invitational just completed another successful run in April. Mississippi State's Washington County Alumni Chapter teams with the local Ole Miss alumni chapter each spring to coordinate this event.

The schools will split $16,000 in proceeds from this year's tournament to provide scholarships to Washington County students attending Mississippi State or Ole Miss. Since the event began, the alumni chapters have split some $170,000.

"The popularity of this event continues to amaze us," said Bill Allen of Greenville, a 1962 Mississippi State graduate and long-time co-coordinator of the weekend. "It's one time a year we can put away our differences with Ole Miss and work toward something that is very positive."

The state's largest doubles-only tennis tournament has grown from 42 teams the first year at the Greenville Golf and Country Club to 197 teams this year playing on 46 tennis courts across the county. Players from eight states, including North Carolina, Tennessee, and Florida, participated.

"Last year, rain forced us to cancel most of the event, but we still managed to award 10, $1,000 scholarships to MSU students," said Lea Margaret McLaurin, a 1990 Mississippi State graduate and past president of the Washington County Chapter. "That's a testament to the support we are receiving."

In addition to tennis, there also is a Saturday night dinner and dance, attended by more than 550 people this year.

MSU alumni Britt Virden ('89) of Greenville, Merrill Greenlee ('76) of Greenville, and Liza Vaughn ('89) of Cleveland were among this year's tennis winners.

In addition to Allen and McLaurin, other MSU alumni and supporters coordinating the 1998 tournament were Carolyn Batson, Beth Cobb ('89), Chuck Hobart ('78), Murphy Jones ('73), Pam Steele, Elise Watson ('90), and Lance Wilson ('87).

In 1996, the tournament received the Special Event of the Year Award from the Mississippi Tennis Association.