STARKVILLE, Miss. ? The 55th-ranked Mississippi State men’s tennis team returns home to play for the first time in three weeks this Sunday, March 29, when they take on the seventh-ranked Florida Gators at the A.J. Pitts Tennis Centre at 1 p.m. CST. MSU is returning home from a Friday road match in Columbia, S.C., where the Bulldogs upset bid over No. 16 South Carolina fell short, 4-2.
MState is 5-9 this season with a 1-4 SEC ledger and also a 3-2 home record, while Florida brings in a record of 11-6, 2-3 in conference play. Florida is stumbling over a three-match losing streak, all to top-five opponents, most recently was Friday’s 4-2 loss to No. 2 Ole Miss, but the Gators own a current seven-match win streak over the Maroon and White netters.
MSU is currently on a five-match losing skid including losses to VCU, Oklahoma and Notre Dame in the Blue-Gray Classic prior to the South Carolina loss. Mississippi State’s SEC win came against No. 20 Auburn on the road, 4-3.
“We are excited to get back home and play after being away for so long,” said Mississippi State head coach Per Nilsson. “We have dropped several close matches lately, matches that I feel would have been even closer if we were are at home.”
The Bulldogs are led by senior Ryan Farlow who is ranked 108th nationally, and is fresh off his upset victory over No. 50 Diego Cubas of South Carolina. Sophomore Antonio Lastre paces State with a 7-6 record, and also won on Friday, snapping a four-match losing skid for the Malaga, Spain-native. Junior Chris Doerr has put up an impressive 7-5 dual match record, and has won five of his previous eight matches, including three conference wins for the London, England-native.
Florida boasts three ranked players, with sophomore Alex Lacroix leading the way at 17th, followed by rookie Carlos Cueto and No. 87 sophomore Tyler Hochwalt. The Gators are led by head coach Andy Jackson, who is in his eighth season with Florida. Prior to that, Jackson was the head coach for MSU from 1989-2001.
Admission is free to all home Mississippi State tennis matches and live stats will be available at www.mstateathletics.com.
