Men?s Tennis Hosts No. 12 Kentucky In Return To A.J. Pitts On Friday
March 10, 2016 | Men's Tennis
STARKVILLE, Miss. – After splitting its conference opening weekend on the road, the 44th-ranked Mississippi State men's tennis team (9-3, 1-1) returns to the A.J. Pitts Tennis Centre this Friday for a ranked bout against No. 12 Kentucky (10-2, 2-0).
Due to the threat of inclement weather, the start time for tomorrow's 5 p.m. match could be altered.
“We are excited to return home for two big matches this weekend at A.J. Pitts,” head coach Matt Roberts said. “Kentucky has a good team coming in on Friday, so it'll be important to get the home crowd behind us. I thought we improved last weekend and it showed with our win against a ranked South Carolina team. This weekend we look to continue that improvement and grow as a unit, which our young guys are doing very fast.”
Last time out, MSU split its SEC opening weekend on the road with a loss to then No. 16 Georgia, 5-2, followed by a win against No. 73 USC, 5-2. In those two matches the highlight of the weekend was the play of Niclas Braun. The freshman earned two singles wins over the weekend to pace the Bulldogs and extend his eight-match win streak. Also in singles, junior Mate Cutura came up big. The 36th-ranked player in the nation picked up his third ranked win of the season after downing UGA's 27th-ranked Austin Smith.
The win against the No. 73 Gamecocks last Sunday was MSU's third ranked win of the season and its second on the road. This weekend the Bulldogs will have two opportunities to earn ranked wins, with the first coming against the No. 12 Wildcats.
Friday's matchup will feature two ranked singles players for each squad, with the Bulldogs represented by No. 36 Cutura and No. 77 Rishab Agarwal and the Wildcats led by No. 23 William Bushamuka and No. 108 Ryotaro Matsamura. Big Blue also sports a ranked doubles tandem in 49th ranked Bushamuka and Beck Pennington.
UK is coming off a stellar weekend at home, after the Wildcats downed Arkansas and Ole Miss to jump up 10 spots in this week's ITA poll and move to a tie for first overall in the SEC standings. The Bulldogs downed the Wildcats last year in Lexington, 4-3, while MSU owns an 11-7 all-time advantage against UK in Starkville.
MSU faces its fifth consecutive ranked opponent on Sunday, as the Bulldogs host No. 72 Tennessee (6-6, 0-2)
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