Following a weekend in which the No. 46 Mississippi State women’s tennis team picked up its first losses of the season, the Bulldogs (10-2, 0-2 SEC) will try to continue their undefeated home streak this weekend against SEC rivals No. 49 Auburn (6-5, 1-1 SEC) and No. 16 Alabama (10-0, 2-0 SEC).
MSU senior Elna de Villiers
said the team was not discouraged
by the losses.
“These teams were the toughest
of the SEC,” she said. “We are
focused on getting on the court
and can’t do anything about the
past.”
Auburn is coming off its biggest
win of the season, having
picked up a 5-2 home win over
No. 20 LSU. That win over
the Bayou Bengals is the team’s
only win over a ranked team in
six tries this spring. All five of
Auburn’s other wins have come
against unranked teams.
MSU coach Tracy Lane said
Auburn, which beat MSU in
2008, is stronger this year.
“Conference-wise, this is a
really big match for us,” she
said.
Auburn’s non-conference
resume includes a 4-0 win over
Troy, which MSU dramatically
defeated 4-3.
“We get very confident that
we match up really well [against
Auburn],” Lane said. “A lot is
at stake for both programs this
weekend.”
The No. 16 Crimson Tide currently
sits undefeated 10 games
into the season. However, recent
results have indicated the winning
streak may not last much
longer. Bama has three consecutive
4-3 wins over No. 20 LSU,
No. 29 Arkansas and No. 21
TCU.
MSU senior Martina Banikova
said this is a big weekend for the
team.
“Last year, we lost to both
Alabama and Auburn,” she said.
“They are very tough but we
know we are really close.”
Bama’s non-conference slate
included a 7-0 win over Tulane
which MSU defeated 6-1 in New
Orleans. Just two games into
the conference season, the Tide
sits in a three-way tie atop the
SEC with MSU’s previous two
conference opponents, No. 2
Georgia and No. 15 Tennessee.
“I never look at anyone as if
they are too good to beat,” de
Villiers said of the team’s mindset
going into the second SEC
weekend. “We know we can
beat Alabama and Auburn.”
The strength of Alabama
comes in its extremely solid
fourth, fifth and sixth singles
players. Merritt Emery is strong
in position four, winning nine
games this year. Alabama has
only dropped one singles match
this season in the bottom half of
the lineup.
“The pressure is on the opponents,
and we will get some
individual wins. We have to a
lot to gain from beating these
teams,” Banikova said.
MSU will conclude the second
week of SEC play against
the Tide at 1 p.m. Sunday.