The Mississippi State men’s tennis team continues its Southeastern Conference play this weekend, hosting 30th-ranked Arkansas today and traveling to No. 13 Louisiana State on Sunday. The Bulldogs will try to snap a two-match losing streak that has dropped State’s record to 7-5, 2-2 in the SEC
On Friday, the 26th-ranked Bulldogs will battle the Razorbacks at MSU’s A.J. Pitts Tennis Centre for State’s last home match of the season. The match, which will be Senior Day for Romain Ambert, Max Fomine and Matt Armstrong, is scheduled for 2 p.m.
“Matt’s been here for five years, and the other guys have been here for four,” said MSU head coach Sylvain Guichard. “All three of them have been successful. These guys have done a good job of leading and teaching the younger guys. I’m really proud of those guys. We’re going to miss them.”
The Razorbacks boast a 10-4 record but are just 1-3 in SEC play, having dropped their last two matches to Kentucky and Vanderbilt. However, none of Arkansas’ four losses come from teams outside the Top 50. Their lone SEC win came over No. 12 Georgia, who defeated State 5-2 last Friday.
“Arkansas is a Top 30 team,” Guichard said, adding, “so this is going to be a tough weekend for us.”
State holds a 16-4 record against the Razorbacks and has won the last 13 meetings between the teams.
On Sunday, the Bulldogs will travel to Baton Rouge to face the No. 13 LSU Tigers. LSU will bring a 10-2 overall record, 2-2 in the SEC, into Sunday’s match. Each of the Tigers’ losses has come from SEC schools ranked in the nation’s Top 20. LSU also boasts six wins over teams ranked in the Top 75.
“LSU will be the best team we have faced since Baylor and Ole Miss,” Guichard said. “But I think we match up well against them.”
The Bulldogs have just an 8-25-1 record against LSU since 1969, with the Tigers taking five of the last six matches.
The big question mark facing the Bulldogs this weekend will be the health of senior all-American Romain Ambert. Ambert, ranked 22nd nationally, has not played singles in State’s last two matches, both of which State lost, while battling an ankle injury.
“Both matches, I think, we would’ve won, or had a good chance at winning, with Romain playing,” Guichard said. “We really don’t know how he’ll feel this weekend; it’s a day-by-day kind of thing. We want to make sure when he returns that he’s 100 percent.”