Saturday, March 17
Starkville
12:00 PM
Mississippi State
vs
Kentucky
MSU stays home to host No. 14 Kentucky on Saturday at noon.
Photo by: Trevor Birchett/MSU Athletics
State Women’s Tennis Welcomes No. 14 Kentucky Saturday At Noon
March 16, 2018 | Women's Tennis
STARKVILLE, Miss. – Coming off of a historic 4-3 upset of No. 2 Vanderbilt Thursday, the Mississippi State's women's tennis team (11-5, 2-3 SEC) is set to host 14th-ranked Kentucky (11-4, 3-2 SEC) for a Saturday afternoon matchup. The match is slated for 12 p.m. CT at the A.J. Pitts Tennis Centre and admission is free.
"We had a massive win yesterday and that should give us confidence," head coach Daryl Greenan said. "But you can never let your guard down in this league so, as usual, we will take it one match at a time and put forth our best effort against another highly-ranked opponent tomorrow."
Last Time Out for MSU…
In their last outing, State rallied from 3-2 down for an incredible 4-3 upset against No. 2 Vanderbilt in front of a home crowd at A.J. Pitts. The triumph marked the highest-ranked win in MSU Tennis history (men's or women's). The victory also snapped a 32-match Commodore win streak in the series and was the first Bulldog win over VU since 1991.
After dropping a close doubles point, the Bulldogs got their first point of the day as Janina Braun upset VU's 27th-ranked Christina Rosca in straight sets at No. 3. Sophomore Sara Lizariturry followed close behind with her own straight-set triumph on court 5 to knot the score at 2-2. With the Commodores leading 3-2, senior Khrystyna Vozniak went the distance at No. 6 to claim two tight tiebreaks to make it 3-all. Overcoming a one-set deficit for the second match in a row on court 4, Anastasia Rentouli posted another incredible three-set comeback victory that gave the Bulldogs the 4-3 upset.
About Kentucky…
In its latest outing, No. 14 Kentucky fell 4-1 to No. 11 Ole Miss Thursday afternoon in Oxford but has won eight of its last 10 contests with the only setbacks in that stretch coming at No. 16 Auburn and No. 11 Ole Miss.
The Wildcats boast two nationally-ranked singles players in No. 65 Akvile Parazinskaite and No. 122 Justina Mikulskyte. In doubles, Mami Adachi pairs with Emily Fanning to form the nation's 40th-ranked tandem.
What to Note As MSU Faces Kentucky
· MSU is 8-2 at home in 2018
· Sophomore Bulldog Sara Lizariturry is currently on a four-match win streak
· Anastasia Rentouli leads State with an 9-2 dual match mark this spring and has clinched both of State's conference victories
· In doubles, Lizariturry and Rentouli hold MSU's best dual doubles mark at 10-3
· Kentucky leads the all-time series against MSU 37-5
· In the last meeting (2017), the Wildcats defeated the Bulldogs, 6-1, in Lexington
· MSU won the last meeting in Starkville (2016), ousting UK by a 4-2 mark
Saturday's Promotions
· Tennis ball toss for a free TV between doubles and singles
· Free admission
· Program covers and posters
· Saturday sundaes
Live Video/Stats
For all home matches at the A.J. Pitts Tennis Centre, live video and statistics can be found at www.hailstate.com/livewt.
Next Up For MSU…
MSU travels to Missouri on Friday, March 23, to begin a four-match SEC road swing.
Social Media
For more information on the Mississippi State women's tennis program, follow "HailStateWT" on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
"We had a massive win yesterday and that should give us confidence," head coach Daryl Greenan said. "But you can never let your guard down in this league so, as usual, we will take it one match at a time and put forth our best effort against another highly-ranked opponent tomorrow."
Last Time Out for MSU…
In their last outing, State rallied from 3-2 down for an incredible 4-3 upset against No. 2 Vanderbilt in front of a home crowd at A.J. Pitts. The triumph marked the highest-ranked win in MSU Tennis history (men's or women's). The victory also snapped a 32-match Commodore win streak in the series and was the first Bulldog win over VU since 1991.
After dropping a close doubles point, the Bulldogs got their first point of the day as Janina Braun upset VU's 27th-ranked Christina Rosca in straight sets at No. 3. Sophomore Sara Lizariturry followed close behind with her own straight-set triumph on court 5 to knot the score at 2-2. With the Commodores leading 3-2, senior Khrystyna Vozniak went the distance at No. 6 to claim two tight tiebreaks to make it 3-all. Overcoming a one-set deficit for the second match in a row on court 4, Anastasia Rentouli posted another incredible three-set comeback victory that gave the Bulldogs the 4-3 upset.
About Kentucky…
In its latest outing, No. 14 Kentucky fell 4-1 to No. 11 Ole Miss Thursday afternoon in Oxford but has won eight of its last 10 contests with the only setbacks in that stretch coming at No. 16 Auburn and No. 11 Ole Miss.
The Wildcats boast two nationally-ranked singles players in No. 65 Akvile Parazinskaite and No. 122 Justina Mikulskyte. In doubles, Mami Adachi pairs with Emily Fanning to form the nation's 40th-ranked tandem.
What to Note As MSU Faces Kentucky
· MSU is 8-2 at home in 2018
· Sophomore Bulldog Sara Lizariturry is currently on a four-match win streak
· Anastasia Rentouli leads State with an 9-2 dual match mark this spring and has clinched both of State's conference victories
· In doubles, Lizariturry and Rentouli hold MSU's best dual doubles mark at 10-3
· Kentucky leads the all-time series against MSU 37-5
· In the last meeting (2017), the Wildcats defeated the Bulldogs, 6-1, in Lexington
· MSU won the last meeting in Starkville (2016), ousting UK by a 4-2 mark
Saturday's Promotions
· Tennis ball toss for a free TV between doubles and singles
· Free admission
· Program covers and posters
· Saturday sundaes
Live Video/Stats
For all home matches at the A.J. Pitts Tennis Centre, live video and statistics can be found at www.hailstate.com/livewt.
Next Up For MSU…
MSU travels to Missouri on Friday, March 23, to begin a four-match SEC road swing.
Social Media
For more information on the Mississippi State women's tennis program, follow "HailStateWT" on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
Players Mentioned
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
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