In what has become a tradition, Mississippi State’s tennis teams will close out the regular season against arch-rivals Mississippi this Saturday, with the men meeting their opponents in Oxford and the women hosting their match in Starkville. Women
Mississippi State’s 71st-ranked lady netters look to end the season on a high note as they prepare to welcome in-state rival Ole Miss to the A.J. Pitts Tennis Centre.
The Bulldogs moved to 7-10 on the season and 0-9 in the Southeastern Conference after their 5-2 loss to No. 14 Arkansas on Sunday.
Sophomore Radka Ferancova posted her second straight singles win, while junior Elna de Villiers now leads the team in dual match singles wins after picking up her 11th of the season.
The Bulldogs currently sit just behind Ole Miss in last place in the SEC Western Division and are still searching for their first conference win.
After foregoing doubles in three of the last four matches due to the weather, the Bulldogs will hope the pattern does not continue for senior day in Starkville.
The match against Arkansas marked just the third time all season that the Lady Bulldogs have been swept in doubles play.
Ole Miss is coming off a mixed weekend, having upset Arkansas 4-3 in Fayetteville before falling to No. 33 LSU 6-1 in Baton Rouge.
The upset win moved the Lady Rebels up to 52nd in the national rankings, while the weekend results put them at 6-14 on the season and 2-8 in the conference.
State has lost 18 in a row to the Lady Rebels, with last year’s fixture resulting in a 1-4 loss for the Bulldogs in Oxford.
Men
Mississippi State’s men’s tennis squad faces a tough task on the road against 7th-ranked Ole Miss on Saturday. MSU head coach Per Nilsson stressed the importance of this weekend’s match.
“This is our last regular meet of the season, and it’s a big one,” Nilsson said. “We need a win to make it to the postseason.”
The Rebels, who recently claimed their 7th consecutive SEC West title, have not lost to their in-state rivals in 20 matches. Against Western Division foes, the Rebels boast a staggering 32-2 record that stretches back to 2003. The SEC West champions are even better at home, with a 55-3 record since 2003. Ole Miss is coming off wins over the same opponents State struggled against last weekend, with a title-clinching 5-2 win over No. 16 LSU and a 6-1 win against No. 47 Arkansas. With the wins, the Rebels are 17-4 on the season and 8-2 in the SEC.
The Rebels’ 46th-ranked senior Robbye Pool captured SEC Player of the Week honors after going 4-0 in doubles and singles and is now 12-3 in singles this season from the No. 3 spot. Ole Miss also poses a danger in doubles with the pair of Erling Tveit and Jonas Berg being ranked 5th in the nation.
Still, the 55th-ranked Mississippi State should be highly motivated against their archrivals as four close losses in a row have left the Bulldogs craving a win. State currently sits on the bottom of the SEC Western Division.
Against LSU, the Bulldogs fell 5-2 in a close decision before losing to Arkansas in their final home match of the season with their third 3-4 score line in four matches.
State’s 26th-ranked senior Ivan Bjelica captured two singles wins to improve his SEC record to 7-2 and claim his 10th and 11th dual match victories.
“Almost all of our matches we’ve lost this season have been very close,” Nilsson said. “We’ve had a lot of chances slip us by, and we don’t want to let that happen again.