No. 24 MSU Turns Attention To No. 52 Auburn For Easter Match
March 26, 2016 | Men's Tennis
STARKVILLE, Miss. – Southeastern Conference play continues on Sunday, as the 24-ranked Mississippi State men's tennis team (12-5, 4-3) faces No. 52 Auburn (9-8, 1-5) at 1 p.m. for an Easter showdown at the A.J. Pitts Tennis Centre.
As with all MSU home matches this season, admission is free.
“We're ready to get back out on the court tomorrow and bounce back from last night,” head coach Matt Roberts said. “We're taking each match and each day one at a time for our overall growth and development. We had a lot of positives on Friday and we're going to focus on building off of those against Auburn on Sunday.”
Last time out the Bulldogs lost a heartbreaker to No. 16 Florida, 4-3. MSU did take the doubles point from the Gators however, something only one team has been able to do in SEC play. Two tandems picked up doubles ranked wins in Mate Cutura and Vaughn Hunter along with Nuno Borges and Niclas Braun. Cutura and Hunter upset the top-ranked team in the nation, 6-4, while Borges and Braun defeated the No. 52 ranked Florida duo, 6-1.
Friday night's loss for MSU was its first of the season at A.J. Pitts and snapped a 13-match home winning streak dating back to March 25, 2015.
The 52nd-ranked Tigers come into Sunday's contest having lost five of their last six matches with the most recent loss being a 4-3 decision to Alabama in Tuscaloosa Friday night. Auburn has no ranked singles players on its roster, but one ranked doubles duo in No. 74 Marko Krickovic and Edward Nguyen.
The Bulldogs have won the last two meetings between the two programs and have been winners in seven of the last eight matches. MSU sports a 26-21 all-time record against the Tigers and is 13-9 at home.
State looks to keep the same order as it used on Friday night, with the duos of Cutura and Hunter, Borges and Braun and the tandem of Trevor Foshey and Strahinja Rakic rounding out the doubles lineup. Sunday's projected order earned MSU's first doubles point in three matches against Florida last time out.
In singles action the Bulldogs send out Cutura, Rishab Agarwal, Borges, Braun, Rakic and Foshey. Borges and Braun were the only winners from Friday night, with Braun extending his 12-match winning streak on the singles court.
The Maroon and White hit the road following Sunday's match against Auburn, traveling to Oxford to face Ole Miss on April 1 at 5 p.m. CT.
For more information on the Mississippi State men's tennis program, follow “HailStateMT” on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
