Friday Night Showdown Set For No. 24 MSU And No. 16 Florida At Pitts
March 24, 2016 | Men's Tennis
STARKVILLE, Miss. – Coming off a big road win in Baton Rouge, the 24th-ranked Mississippi State men's tennis team (12-4, 4-2) returns home this Friday to host No. 16 Florida (9-4, 4-1) at 5 p.m. CT.
As with all MSU home matches this season, admission is free.
“We're excited to face a good Florida team under the lights this Friday,” head coach Matt Roberts said. “We're ready to get back on our home court and play in front of the Bulldog faithful. Friday's match will be a great opportunity to develop our games against a quality opponent and we're ready for the challenge.”
Last weekend the Bulldogs spilt their conference matches on the road, dropping a 5-2 decision to No. 9 Texas A&M, but bouncing back against No. 48 LSU, 4-2. The win on Sunday was highlighted by MSU's four singles wins to claim the victory against the Tigers. In that mix, juniors Rishab Agarwal and Mate Cutura were key to the success for MSU over the weekend.
For Cutura, the weekend proved to be one of his best of the season as the junior defeated two ranked foes in singles action. Cutura upset 14th-ranked Arthur Rinderknech of Texas A&M, 6-2, 6-4, on Friday before downing No. 102 Jordan Daigle of LSU in three sets, 6-3, 2-6, 6-4, on Sunday. The wins propelled Cutura to a ITA National Singles Ranking of 22nd overall in this week's release, a career high.
Also crucial to the Bulldogs' success this season has been the play of their talented freshmen. Friday's projected singles lineup is composed of four freshmen who have turned in a combined 15-7 record in SEC play. Nuno Borges (4-2), Niclas Braun (5-0), Strahinja Rakic (4-2) and Trevor Foshey (2-3) will make up the order 3-6, with juniors Cutura and Agarwal at the top.
Florida comes to Starkville as the No. 16 team in the nation, with a pair of 6-1 wins against then No. 13 Arkansas and former No. 22 Ole Miss in Gainesville. The Gators sport four ranked singles players and two ranked doubles teams. Diego Hidalgo is UF's highest ranked singles player at No. 24 overall and is one half of the top-ranked doubles team in the country with Gordon Watson.
MSU defeated Florida in the last matchup between the two teams, with the Bulldogs downing the Gators in the SEC Tournament, 4-3. State is 17-33 all-time against the Gators and 6-14 at home.
The Maroon and White will host No. 52 Auburn on Sunday at 1 p.m. CT for an Easter showdown at A.J. Pitts to continue the SEC home weekend.
For more information on the Mississippi State men's tennis program, follow “HailStateMT” on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
