Elvis showed up at Mississippi College’s 2010 Homecoming! Really, the King of Rock n Roll thrilled scores of MC alumni at their 50-year reunion festivities. Stirring as much excitement as an Elvis impersonator during Homecoming, the Mississippi College table tennis team took their A-game to the Dixie Division competition on October 16.

The defending Dixie Division champs for two years in a row, MC finished on top again at the fall 2010 competition at the Baptist Healthplex. On the national scene, they are a formidable bunch. At the 2010 National Championships, MC’s team finished No. 5 in the coed rankings when all was said and done in Wisconsin.

Under the watchful eye of Dixie Division Director Herb Bennett, MC finished on top again October 16 on its home court. The runner-up was an Alabama-Huntsville squad that came in ranked No. 16 in the nation in a pre-season NCTTA poll. Other Dixie Division competitors included the Alabama, West Florida, Mississippi State and Southern Miss. The Miss. St. Bulldogs didn’t have quite as much bite in their table tennis game this fall since several of their top players graduated in May 2010.

Miss. College and Alabama-Huntsville were tied when the teams broke for lunch with three wins each. MC finished the day at 5-0 with UAH at 4-1. In one of the most-watched matches, MC’s star, Yuliang “Bill” Cai, defeated Alabama-Huntsville’s David Landry in three straight games by scores of 11-1,11-1 and 11-7. MC went on to defeat UAH 4-0.

Others Mississippi College students putting in strong performances included Zhicheng “Johnson” Liang, Lishun Lu and newcomer Yang Yu, all natives of China and students in the School of Business. MC captain Ken Qiu didn’t compete so he could open his spot on the “A” team for MC sophomore Ben VanHorn, a Christian Studies major from Clinton. VanHorn won two and lost two matches.

Dixie Division competition will resume Feb. 19, 2011 on the Clinton campus as the same six schools face-off to determine the Division Champion and an automatic berth to Nationals.

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