MSU Netmen Take On LSU In First Round Of SEC Championship
STARKVILLE, Miss. - The 11th-seeded Mississippi State men's tennis team will open up play in the first round of the SEC Championship Thursday morning in Fayetteville, Ark., taking on six-seeded and 18th-ranked LSU. Match time is set for 8:30 a.m. at Arkansas' George M. Billingsley Tennis Center.
"Our guys are excited about playing in the SEC Championship," said MSU head coach Per Nilsson. "We will face a good LSU team in the first round and we will have to play very well to have a chance in the match."
The Bulldogs, (8-11, 2-9 Southeastern Conference) are coming off a close 4-3 loss at #7 Mississippi this past weekend on the road. It was the fifth loss this season by a 4-3 margin. Having won four straight singles matches, MSU senior Ivan Bjelica moved up to 16th in this week's Intercollegiate Tennis Association's poll. The Belgrade, Serbia native has won 16 matches this spring and holds an 8-2 mark in SEC play at the #1 position. Senior Philippe Frayssinoux has captured back-to-back SEC wins at the #2 spot. He leads the team with 24 singles wins and has won eight of his last 10 matches. The duo of Bjelica and Frayssinoux made its debut at 39th in this week's ITA doubles poll. The pair has won eight dual matches and has posted four SEC wins.
LSU (13-7, 6-5 SEC) enters Thursday's contest having won four of their last five matches. The Tigers are led by 39th-ranked Michael Venus and 110th-ranked Jan Zelezny. Venus has captured 13 victories this season, including five in SEC play. Zelezny has won 20 matches in which eight came at the #2 spot. The Tiger tandem of Venus and James Cluskey is ranked 26th-nationally in the doubles poll.
In the one previous meeting this season in Starkville, LSU defeated MSU 5-2. The Bulldogs are 20-17 overall in SEC Championship matches since the tournament's current format went into effect in 1990. State has won four straight first-round matches dating back to the 2003 tournament including a first-round upset victory over LSU in the 2006 tournament.