The Mississippi State women’s tennis team will try for its first Southeastern Conference home victory of the season this weekend as the Lady Bulldogs welcome the No. 2 Florida Gators on Friday and 33rd-ranked South Carolina on Sunday.
The Lady Gators, arguably State’s toughest opponent all year, are 15-0, 8-0 in the SEC. They remain the only unbeaten team in the SEC. Florida has nine 7-0 sweeps in their fifteen victories and are yet to lose three points in a match.
“Florida, year-in and year-out competes for a national championship,” MSU head coach Tracy Lane said. “But, we’ve got some girls in place who, if they play well, can really challenge Florida and make them work on every point.”
On Sunday, the Lady Bulldogs (6-10, 1-7 in the SEC) will welcome the No. 33 South Carolina Gamecocks. South Carolina brings a 10-7 overall and 3-5 SEC mark into play. The Gamecocks have lost three of their last four matches.
“South Carolina is a top 35 team,” Lane said, adding, “We’ve really got to step up and play more aggressive to win matches this weekend.”
State has played well in doubles recently, winning the doubles point in both its matches last weekend, which included a 4-3 victory over Arkansas for MSU’s only SEC win of the year.
“We’ve been playing good doubles lately,” Lane said. “We’re becoming a lot more consistent in that area. We’ve just got to really step it up in singles.”
Both matches will be played at State’s A.J. Pitts’ Tennis Centre. Friday’s match is scheduled for 2:30 p.m., and Sunday’s is at 1 p.m. The Lady Bulldogs will then face 63rd-ranked Mississippi on April 10 to finish their regular season.