Mississippi State’s men’s tennis team, ranked 46th nationally in the latest Omni Hotels Collegiate Rankings, released Wednesday, will travel to meet 35th-ranked Tennessee Friday on the UT campus. Match time is set for 1 p.m. ET at UT’s Varsity Courts.
The Bulldogs, which stand 5-9 overall and 1-5 in Southeastern Conference are looking to end a three-match losing skid after dropping close home contests to 14th-ranked Vanderbilt and 10th-ranked Kentucky this past weekend. Tennessee will enter the contest 9-6, 2-4 in league competition.
MSU and UT have met on the tennis court 34 times in the modern era (since 1969). The Volunteers hold a 24-10 series lead on the Bulldogs in that time. UT has claimed the last three meetings between the teams.
State is led by junior all-American Romain Ambert who is 27-9 at the No. 1 singles position during his career and climbed 35 spots to rank 25th nationally in Wednesday’s new singles ratings. He is backed up by seniors Rene-Charles Combette and Jerome Le Belicard and junior Max Fomine, who garnered the first ranking of his career Wednesday, coming in at No. 123.
Tennessee currently has two players ranked among the nation’s top 80, Simon Rea (33rd) and Mark Dietrich (76th). The Vols also have the country’s 57th-ranked doubles duo in Dietrich and Wade Orr.
“We just want to continue to play hard and fight in every match, and continue to do the things we have been doing,” MSU head coach Sylvain Guichard said. “We have been very close in every match we have lost this year. Tennessee will be difficult to beat on their courts, but we certainly have the capability of doing so.”
Following Friday’s action, the Bulldogs will continue their road swing Sunday when they visit 19th-ranked Georgia. That contest is slated for a 1 p.m. ET start at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex in Athens.