MSU Hosts Two Top 25 Opponents

STARKVILLE - Mississippi State women's tennis returns home this weekend to take on a pair of top 25 opponents as State faces No. 23 South Carolina and No. 1 Georgia. Of the Bulldogs' nine SEC contests to date, eight have been against ranked opponents with five programs being ranked inside the top 25.

The Bulldogs (10-9, 0-9 SEC), ranked 66^th in the latest ITA rankings, begin the weekend facing No. 23 South Carolina (10-7, 5-4 SEC) with the match starting at 3 p.m. CT on Friday. State will then matchup with top-ranked Georgia (16-1, 9-0 SEC) at noon on Sunday.

Rankings
MSU
Singles – n/a
Doubles – Gianna Oboniye/Athina Pitta (72)

South Carolina
Singles – Sarah Hamner (23), Kaitlyn Carnicella (93), Misa Malkin (113)
Doubles – Kaitlyn Carnicella/Sarah Hamner (26), Olympe Lancelot/Bella Bergqvist Larsson (77)

Georgia
Singles – Dasha Vidmanova (1), Aysegul Mert (52), Anastasiia Lopata (55), Guillermina Grant (100)
Doubles – Mell Reasco/Dasha Vidmanova (10), Aysegul Mert/Guillermina Grant (21), Anastassia Lopata/Guillermina Grant (74)

Series History
vs. South Carolina
Overall: South Carolina leads 34-2
In Starkville: South Carolina leads 21-1
Last Meeting: South Carolina won in Columbia, 7-0 (2024)

vs. Georgia
Overall: Georgia leads 47-0
In Starkville: Georgia leads 21-0
Last Meeting: Georgia won in Athens, 7-0 (2024)

State Wins Leaders
Overall singles – Jayna Clemens (14)
vs. ranked opponents – Gianna Oboniye (1)
Matches clinched – Carolina Troiano (4)
Overall doubles – Gianna Oboniye/Athina Pitta (10)
vs. ranked opponents – Chiara Di Genova/Tagliente (1), Oboniye/Pitta (1)
Double clinches – Oboniye/Pitta (4)

Notes to know
• Mississippi State started the season with nine straight wins, its best start to a season in program history.
• The Bulldogs are 10-4 in home matches this season.
• Gianna Oboniye and Athina Pitta joined the ITA Rankings last week coming in at No. 72 on the ITA doubles rankings. They are the first Mississippi State doubles team to be ranked since the 2022 season.
• Oboniye and Pitta have won nine of their 14 doubles matches in dual match play including a win over LSU's 11th-ranked duo of Cadence Brace and Kayla Cross.
• Emma Cohen and Alessia Tagliente picked up their first ever SEC victory as a pair against Florida on March 14.
• Jayna Clemens and Chiara Di Genova secured their second SEC victory as a duo at Kentucky on March 21.
• Clemens boasts a 10-1 mark in singles dual match play.
• Di Genova has won two of her last three SEC singles matches and is 7-5 in dual match play.
• Oboniye has posted a 7-5 mark in singles matches this spring.
• Carolina Troiano is 6-5 in singles dual match play and leads the team with four singles match clinches.
•Women's tennis posted a 3.58 grade point average as a team during the fall semester. It was the second-highest GPA of any women's team at MSU during the fall.
• This year marks the 51st season of women's tennis at Mississippi State after playing its inaugural season in 1975. The Bulldogs have won 499 matches all-time.
• The Bulldogs signed five-star prospect Mia Robinson out of Spartanburg, South Carolina. Robinson is the top-ranked recruit in the state of South Carolina and the No. 14 prospect in the country. She is set to join the team in the fall.

For more Information on the Bulldog women's tennis program, visit Hailstate.com or search for "HailstateWT" on X, Instagram and Facebook.

MSU Hosts Two Top 25 Opponents

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Players Mentioned

Jayna Clemens

Emma Cohen

Chiara Di Genova

Gianna Oboniye

Athina Pitta

Alessia Tagliente

Carolina Troiano

Mississippi State University Athletics