NO. 28 MSU WOMEN?S TENNIS TO HOST NO. 5 VANDERBILT FRIDAY
March 31, 2016 | Women's Tennis
STARKVILLE, Miss. – After a weekend on the road, the 28th-ranked Mississippi State's women's tennis team (12-6, 3-5 Southeastern Conference) is back in action this weekend at the A.J. Pitts Tennis Centre, taking on fifth-ranked and defending national champion Vanderbilt (12-4, 5-2 SEC) at 11 a.m. CT on Friday, April 1. The match will be the first of two in two days at home for State.
MSU returns home after splitting its road matches at No. 16 Auburn and No. 48 Alabama this past weekend. On Thursday, State dropped a very tight 5-2 decision to the Tigers and rebounded on Saturday, sweeping the Crimson Tide in impressive fashion, 7-0.
State's 71st-ranked senior Georgiana Patrasc looks to improve on her 14-2 dual match record this weekend as well as continue a four-match winning streak. The Bulldogs' 13th-ranked Jasmine Lee and No. 100 Anastasia Rentouli also hope to improve on their impressive seasons, as well. The 2015 first-team All-SEC selection Lee is 11-5 at the top spot in the lineup this spring, while Rentouli is 11-4, playing mainly at No. 4. Madison Harrison, Kristina Vozniak and Jennifer Brown all carry winning dual match records into the weekend as well for the Bulldogs.
On the doubles side, State's pair of Lee and Louise Ronaldson lead the way with an 11-1 record at No. 2. Taking the court for the first time since fall last week, the tandem of No. 61 Patrasc and Rentouli and the duo of Harrison and Vozniak both enter the weekend with a 1-0 dual record.
The Commodores are coming off a big weekend in which they swept in-state rival Tennessee 7-0 and followed that up with a thrilling 4-3 victory over No. 3 Georgia. Vanderbilt boasts three top 25 singles players. Senior Frances Altick is undefeated on the season at 13-0 and leads the trio at No. 17. No. 21 Astra Sharma and No. 25 Sydney Campbell round out VU's ranked contingent in singles. Campbell also teams up with Courtney Colton to form the 10th-best doubles pair in the country.
The Bulldogs will continue their homestand Saturday, welcoming No. 23 Kentucky at 1 p.m. CT. MSU closes the homestand next Friday, April 8, hosting rival Ole Miss at 3 p.m.
For more information on Mississippi State women's tennis and updates, fans can follow the Bulldogs on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at HailStateWT.
