Bulldog Netmen Set For Road Tests At Kentucky, Vanderbilt
STARKVILLE, Miss. - The Mississippi State men's tennis team will continue its Southeastern Conference schedule this weekend, traveling to Lexington, Ky., Friday to take on Kentucky, followed by a trip to Nashville, Tenn., Sunday to battle Vanderbilt. Friday's match is set for a 4 p.m. CT start while play Sunday will get underway at 1 p.m. CT.
Having won four of their last five matches, the Bulldogs enter the weekend ranked 38th-nationally. State owns an 8-6 overall record including a 2-4 mark in league play. Seniors Ivan Bjelica and Philippe Frayssinoux are ranked 37th and 50th respectively in the singles rankings. Bjelica, the reigning SEC Player of the Week, has won three straight matches at the #1 position and has upped his SEC mark to 4-1. Frayssinoux is a winner of five straight in singles and has notched a team-high 21 wins this season. Bjelica and Frayssinoux have also paired at the #1 doubles spot for MSU, going 7-2 in dual matches this spring and currently own a four match win streak.
Kentucky comes into the weekend ranked 50th as a team. The Wildcats are 8-9 this season and are 2-4 in SEC competition. UK is led by 48th-ranked junior Bruno Agostinelli who is 15-10 overall this season in singles play. The two programs have met 38 times in the past with UK holding a slight 20-18 advantage. Last season in Starkville, MSU downed Kentucky 4-1.
Ranked 35th in the latest Intercollegiate Tennis Association's poll, Vanderbilt enters the weekend with a 10-5 record overall, 2-4 in the SEC. The Commodores are led by 75th-ranked senior Ryan Preston and 101st-ranked Vijay Paul. Preston is 13-10 overall this season while Paul is 19-10. In the all-time series with VU, State owns a commanding 31-8 lead. The Bulldogs defeated the Commodores twice last season which included a first round win in the SEC Championship.
"This is a very important weekend for our team," said MSU head coach Per Nilsson. "We are playing two very good teams and we must be able to give great effort and play very solid to have a chance to win either match."
Following this weekend's action, MSU will return home to face LSU on April 4 and Arkansas on April 6.