State Lady Netters Welcome South Carolina For SEC Battle Friday
STARKVILLE, Miss. ? In search of its first conference win of the season, Mississippi State’s women’s tennis team (9-3, 0-3 SEC) plays host to the 40th-ranked South Carolina Gamecocks (8-7, 1-3 SEC) Friday at the A.J. Pitts Tennis Centre. Match time is slated for 2 p.m. CT.
The Lady Bulldogs are coming off a week of much-needed rest after their 6-1 triumph over Louisiana-Lafayette last Thursday. State’s victory over the Ragin’ Cajuns improved its non-conference record to an outstanding 9-0, giving the Lady Bulldogs an undefeated record against non-SEC opponents for the first time in 10 seasons. MSU went 8-0 against non-conference foes in 1998.
Junior Radka Ferancova currently holds the team lead in singles victories this season. The Slovakia native comes into Friday’s match looking to improve on her 10-2 record.
Seniors Martina Banikova, Elna de Villiers and Daniela Juskova have also played important roles for the MSU squad this year. Banikova and de Villiers hold a team-leading nine victories in doubles, while Juskova picked up a win in her first singles start on the year against Louisiana-Lafayette.
South Carolina comes into Friday’s clash fresh off a 5-2 victory over South Florida Sunday in Tampa, Fla., boosting its overall record to 8-7.
Following their contest with USC, the Lady Bulldogs travel to Florida to take on the Gators Sunday in a Noon CT start. Live stats for all Mississippi State women’s tennis matches are available at mstateathletics.com.