Mississippi State
Kentucky
Bulldogs Open SEC Championships Against No. 67 Kentucky
April 16, 2024 | Women's Tennis
ATHENS, Ga. – Mississippi State closed out the regular season with a 4-1 win over Missouri on Sunday and will now try to carry that momentum into the postseason.
The 13th-seeded Bulldogs will battle No. 12 seed Kentucky in the opening round of the Southeastern Conference Championships on Wednesday at 2 p.m. CT. at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex on Georgia's campus.
The now 67th-ranked Wildcats narrowly edged MSU 4-2 in Lexington on March 15. The top of the Bulldogs' lineup – Alexandra Mikhailuk and Maria Rizzolo – both won their singles matches and Alessia Tagliente had taken her first set when UK clinched the match.
The doubles point was also highly competitive between the two teams, with Chloé Cirotte and Jayna Clemens dropping a tiebreaker in heartbreaking fashion 7-6(6). Tagliente and Dharani Niroshan were knotted 5-5 in their doubles match when the Wildcats clinched the point.
State (10-13) earned the doubles point during Sunday's win over Missouri as Cirotte and Clemens claimed a win while Rizzolo and Tagliente finished things off in a tiebreaker, 7-6(5).
In singles, Cirotte, Niroshan and Clemens all prevailed giving the latter two their first SEC singles' triumphs of the season. Clemens and fellow freshman Athina Pitta are tied for the team lead with three match-clinchers each this spring.
Rizzolo leads the team with 14 singles wins on the year followed closely by Mikhailuk and Niroshan with 13 victories apiece. Niroshan and Tagliente have been the Bulldogs' top doubles tandem with 10 wins together.
Kentucky (8-14) enters the SEC Championships having lost its last five matches and were just 1-10 outside of Lexington this year. The Wildcats were swept 4-0 by South Carolina, Florida, Tennessee and Georgia to close out the regular season.
Doubles duo Makayla Mills and Elizabeth Stevens are UK's only ranked competitors, coming in at No. 56 nationally.
State has won at least one match in six of its last eight appearances in the SEC Championships.
For more information on the Bulldog women's tennis program, visit HailState.com or search for "HailStateWT" on X, Instagram and Facebook.
Players Mentioned
