The Mississippi State tennis teams take on LSU and Arkansas this weekend, with the lady netters traveling to Baton Rouge and Fayetteville while the men host their last two home matches of the season.Men
The 49th-ranked Bulldogs enter their last home-stand of the season this weekend, facing a tough task against No. 16 LSU on Friday before welcoming 47th-ranked Arkansas to the A.J. Pitts Tennis Centre on Sunday.
The matches come after the Bulldogs’ last weekend outing ended in two agonizing 3-4 losses to Kentucky and Vanderbilt.
MSU head coach Per Nilsson said he hopes the home advantage this weekend will be enough to avoid similar results.
“We’re happy to be back, especially after the disappointing away matches last week,” Nilsson said. “It’s amazing what a difference is makes to play at home.”
With last weekend’s losses, the Bulldogs drop to 8-8 overall and 2-6 in the Southeastern Conference. The team has also dropped 11 spots in the national rankings, putting them just two behind their Sunday opponent Arkansas.
The Razorbacks come into the weekend having lost their last four matches, a deceptive statistic considering three of those losses came against top-10 opponents.
As the rankings hint, Arkansas holds nearly the same record as State, with an identical 2-6 record in the SEC and a 10-10 overall record.
“They’re just like us,” Nilsson said. “We both really need a win, and it’s really coming down to the wire for both teams.”
LSU, meanwhile, boasts a 4-4 record in the SEC and is 11-6 overall.
The Tigers are in good form after following their 6-1 demolition of South Carolina with a 4-3 upset over the 8th-ranked Florida.
State can take solace in the fact that out of the Tiger’s four losses in the conference, three have come away from home.
Women
Mississippi State’s lady netters face another weekend of playing teams ranked in the top 40, taking on No. 33 LSU in Baton Rouge on Friday before traveling to Fayetteville for a match against the 14th-ranked Arkansas.
State’s previous matches resulted in a 1-5 loss to No. 23 Kentucky, followed by a 2-4 loss to the 11th-ranked Vanderbilt.
Although State plays a similarly ranked pair of teams this weekend, MSU head coach Tracy Lane said the Bulldogs will head into the matches with improved confidence.
“We’re playing two teams that are extremely comparable to the teams we played last week,” Lane said. “There was definitely some improvement in the way we played on Sunday compared to Friday’s match, and we hope to continue playing better.”
The Tigers are also coming off a disappointing weekend after losses to South Carolina and 4th-ranked Florida.
With the losses, LSU dropped to 3-5 in conference play and 10-8 overall.
Despite losing to Florida last weekend, the Lady Razorbacks are flying high, managing six wins out of their last seven matches.
Arkansas also boasts the nation’s No. 1 singles player in Aurelija Miseviciute. Lane said Miseviciute’s likely match-up against State’s Martina Banikova should prove to be a good match.
“It will definitely be a tough match,” Lane said. “But they are tough all through their team.