Bulldog Netmen To Open Play In SEC Championship Thursday
May 25, 2016 | Men's Tennis
State, 10-10 overall and 3-8 in the SEC, is the No. 10 seed in this weekend's tournament. The Bulldogs are led by sophomore Romain Ambert, who is ranked 10th in the country in singles, and junior Rene-Charles Combette (81st). Ambert and Combette are No. 31 nationally together in doubles.
Kentucky will enter the match 18-8 overall, 6-5 in the SEC, and is seeded seventh in the event. The Wildcats are paced by Jesse Witten, who is ranked seventh in the nation in singles. Witten, a rookie, was named SEC Freshman of the Year Wednesday.
The teams have met 31 times in recorded history (since 1969). UK holds a slim 16-15 advantage over State during that period. The Bulldogs upset the Wildcats earlier this season in Lexington in a dramatic 4-3, come-from-behind victory.
"This is a scary match," MSU head coach Sylvain Guichard said. "We know we can beat Kentucky because we have already done it. But we also know that they are a very good team and will be very difficult to beat again. We just have to go out there and fight and give our best effort to give ourselves a good chance to win."
Should State upset UK once again, it would then face second-seeded and fifth-ranked, arch-rival Mississippi in the quarterfinals at 11 a.m. ET Friday morning.
2002 SEC Men's Tennis Championship - Knoxville, Tenn.
April 18-21, 2002
April 18 (Thursday)
Match 1: #6 Alabama vs. #11 LSU, 8 a.m.
Match 2: #7 Kentucky vs. #10 Mississippi State, 11 a.m.
Match 3: #8 Arkansas vs. #9 South Carolina, 2 p.m.
Match 4: #5 Florida vs. #12 Vanderbilt, 5 p.m.
April 19 (Friday)
Match 5: #3 Auburn vs. Winner of Match 1, 8 a.m.
Match 6: #2 Mississippi vs. Winner of Match 2, 11 a.m.
Match 7: #1 Georgia vs. Winner of Match 3, 2 p.m.
Match 8: #4 Tennessee vs. Winner of Match 4, 5 p.m.
April 20 (Saturday)
Match 9: Winner of Match 5 vs. Winner of Match 6, 10 a.m.
Match 10: Winner of Match 7 vs. Winner of Match 8, 2 p.m.
April 21 (Sunday)
Winner of Match 9 vs. Winner of Match 10, 2 p.m.
All Times Eastern
