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Mississippi College Table Tennis Team Keeps Dixie Division Crown


Mississippi College table tennis team players Yichi Zhang, Cheng Li and Xiajin Lin helped spark MC's victory at the Dixie Division tournament on October 18. The event was part of MC's 2014 Homecoming. Cheng Li is the team's coach & captain.

A powerful Mississippi College table tennis team emerged with another triumph at the Dixie Division tournament on the Clinton campus.

Combining potent slams with tricky spins, MC’s team dominated once again on October 18 with the University of West Florida taking second place. Mississippi State, Southern Miss, Alabama-Birmingham and Tulane also competed at Alumni Gym.

The tournament on MC’s home turf marked the first one under the leadership of new coach Cheng Li, the top collegiate table tennis player in North America last season. The 6’3” tall native of China also serves as the team’s captain.

“Cheng Li brings enormous skills to the table as a star player and coach,” said Andy Kanengiser, MC’s table tennis sponsor. “We look forward to continued success this season.”

Mississippi College’s table tennis team ranked No. 2 in North America the past three years to beat out strong teams like Princeton, Columbia, Southern California, NYU, Cal-Berkeley, Penn State and Ohio State. Perennial champion Texas Wesleyan University of Fort Worth has won the coed team title for an amazing 11 consecutive seasons.

The MC team introduced two new players at the tournament: Xiaojin Lin, the only woman on the squad, and Zijie Zheng, a graduate student in business administration. “Both are valuable additions to the team, and should continue to improve as the season moves along,” Kanengiser said.

Returning Mississippi College players like Yichi Zhang, the No. 2 collegiate player in the USA and Canada, and teammate Zesheng “Leo” Huang, add a great deal of strength to the roster.

A sixth MC player, Tyler Brogdon, is studying in China this semester, and will rejoin the squad in January. Five of MC’s players are natives of China where table tennis is king. The lone American on the team, Brogdon is a Birmingham, Alabama resident.

The table tennis matches attracted longtime fans like President Lee Royce and his wife, Rhoda, and Vice President for Academic Affairs Ron Howard. Former coach Ken Qiu, a staffer with the School of Business and Office of Global Education who launched the MC team in 2007, also watched the action. The games attracted plenty of students and alumni cheering the Choctaws.

The spring Dixie Division tournament is set for Saturday February 7 at Alumni Gym. MC expects to be tested at the South regional tournament in March at Texas Wesleyan. The 2015 TMS Collegiate Championship is scheduled for April 10-12 at Eau Clare, Wisconsin.

Later this fall, Mississippi College’s team will work with the new Brandon Table Tennis Club that begins competition in November for metro Jackson players of all skill levels and ages. The club will be open two evenings per week at the Brandon Civic Center/City Hall off U.S. 80.

For more information, contact Andy Kanengiser at 601-925-7760 or kanengis@mc.edu.