Mississippi State
Auburn
Bulldogs Prepare For Sunday Doubleheader
March 23, 2024 | Women's Tennis
STARKVILLE – Mississippi State is getting set to host a doubleheader Sunday afternoon against No. 18 Auburn and Mississippi Valley State.
The Bulldogs will take the courts at the A.J. Pitts Tennis Centre against the Tigers at noon and square off against the Delta Devilettes for the first time at approximately 4 p.m.
Alexandra Mikhailuk and Athina Pitta earned a monumental win for MSU on Friday, knocking off the No. 7 doubles team in the country. Mikhailuk and Pitta blanked Alabama's Loudmilla Bencheikh and Anne Marie Hiser 6-0 for their ninth triumph together this year.
Mikhailuk nearly had her first ranked singles win of the season as well on Friday. The graduate from Burlington, Ontario, Canada had Bencheikh – who is ranked 46th in singles – down 6-3, 5-3 when the match against the Crimson Tide was clinched and her match was subsequently suspended. Â
Mikhailuk does have 67 career singles victories, which is tied with MSU Hall of Famer and current Northwestern head coach Claire Pollard (1986-89) for the 10th-most in school history. She needs one more to match Sabine Guibal (1988-91) for a ninth-place tie.
Freshman Jayna Clemens has fared well this spring, having won six of her last eight singles decisions.
Auburn will be the seventh-straight ranked opponent first-year head coach Chris Hooshyar has faced. Hooshyar recently spent a decade on The Plains where he was an assistant/associate head coach for the Tigers' women's program from 2014-18 before assuming the same roles for the men's program from 2019-23.
State assistant coach Taylor Russo was a five-year letterwinner at Auburn (2017-21) where she was an SEC All-Freshman Team selection in 2017 and the 2020 ITA Southern Region Senior Player of the Year.
Auburn enters Sunday's match at 11-7 overall and 5-2 in conference play. The Tigers are coming off a 5-2 win at No. 33 Ole Miss on Friday.
Auburn's singles lineup features four ranked competitors in Carolyn Ansari (18), DJ Bennett (62), Ariana Arseneault (74) and Angella Okutoyi (116). The Tigers' doubles tandems are headlined by No. 9 Arseneault and Bennett as well as No. 51 Bennett and Selin Ovunc.
Mississippi Valley State is winless on the year at 0-12. The Delta Devilettes lost 4-2 at Alcorn State on Thursday.
For more information on the Bulldog women's tennis program, visit HailState.com or search for "HailStateWT" on X, Instagram and Facebook.
