The No. 60 Mississippi State men’s tennis team (5-10, 1-5 SEC) is calling for fans to “Pack Pitts” this weekend as the Bulldogs host SEC foes Vanderbilt and Kentucky. With this weekend being the last two-match home weekend of the season, Vanderbilt and Kentucky may serve as the Bulldog’s best chances improve their NCAA tournament chances before the SEC tournament.
After a harsh 6-1 defeat to No. 7 Florida, MSU head coach Per Nilsson said the Bulldogs are now just working to start playing comfortably, the way they did earlier in the season.
“We have had a tough couple of weeks and we need good practices,” Nilsson said. “We are working a lot on serving and defining how we play. We are getting back to our style.”
MSU starts the home weekend with Vanderbilt at 2 p.m. today.
The Commodores (4-12, 1-5 SEC) come to Starkville ranked 53rd nationally as a team. The Commodores are desperate to pick up a win this weekend as MSU is the lowest ranked of their remaining five matches, which include three top-five teams.
A tough away loss to Vandy last season has given Nilsson extra motivation to win this year.
“Last year against Vanderbilt, the match went to a tiebreaker in the last match,” Nilsson said. “We are expecting a very similar match this year.”
Vanderbilt’s doubles team of Adam Baker and Alex Zotov is currently ranked 46th nationally by Intercollegiate Tennis.
“The Kentucky match was the same as Vanderbilt last year,” Nilsson said. “We should have won doubles and they stole that from us.”
The Wildcats (13-6, 4-3 SEC) come in to the weekend as one of nine schools ranked in the top 20 in both the men’s and women’s polls. The men are 13th, while the women are 20th.
Kentucky will bring their 20th ranked doubles team featuring Bruno Agostinelli and Brad Cox to play in the first doubles position. The duo has been ranked in the top 20 all year despite a 14-11 record.
Senior Agostinelli has had a tremendous year. Ranked fifth nationally, he has won six straight. In that winning streak, only No. 4 Brian Konieko of Ohio State and No. 6 Michael Venus of LSU have forced a third set.
MSU finishes the weekend against Kentucky at 1 p.m. Sunday.
Sophomore Tanner Stump is one of the veterans on the young Bulldog team who saw the close losses to the Commodores and Wildcats last season.
“We know we have to make every point count,” Stump said. “If we all come out and play how we can this weekend, we will get the result.”
For the first time this year, the Bulldogs have two players ranked in the top-125 players nationally.
Following his win over No. 14 Alex Lacroix of Florida, freshman Artem Ilyushin is ranked for the first time in his collegiate career.
“We were joking yesterday about how he was going to pass Ryan [Farlow],” Nilsson said. “It is really fun to get players ranked.”
Ilyushin comes in one spot behind the team’s lone senior, Farlow, at 89th. Farlow achieved his highest ranking of the year at No. 88, having moved up from No. 108 last week.
Nilsson has praised how well Ilyushin has stepped into a leadership role, and said the freshman is one of the most vocal players in the squad.
“We are losing because of our attitude on the court,” Ilyushin said. “We are working to control our emotions if we get down in a match. We have had a huge row of losses. I know the guys are tired of losing. This weekend, we are going to win.”