Bulldogs Take On 12th-Ranked Wildcats On Sunday In Home SEC Match
STARKVILLE, Miss. - On Sunday the 43rd-ranked Mississippi State men's tennis squad will serve up to the No. 12 nationally ranked Kentucky Wildcats at home. MSU is coming off a thrilling 4-1 win over No. 22 Vanderbilt on Friday.
"We were very excited to start off our conference schedule with a win," said Coach Per Nilsson who led MSU to a victory in its conference opener for the first time since 2005. "Will enjoy the win but we have to quickly turn our focus to a really tough Kentucky team."
MSU (5-4, 1-0) has won four of its last five matches while Kentucky (12-3, 1-0) has won three-straight and their only three losses of the season have come to opponents ranked in the top 5 nationally. Kentucky owns the all-time advantage in the series (23-18) but the Bulldogs are 11-5 when facing the Wildcats at home. State has dropped three-straight to Kentucky, but last season's match at UK was a close road battle that ended 4-3 in favor of the then-ranked No. 8 Wildcats.
Bulldog junior George Coupland is fresh off his impressive match-clinching victory over No. 36 nationally ranked Ryan Lipman of Vanderbilt. Coupland has played primarily at the No. 1 position for the Maroon and White this season and has won two-straight and four of his last five. Friday's victory also marked the 30th of Coupland's two-year career at MSU.
MSU boasts two nationally ranked singles players led by junior Louis Cant who stands at No. 73 in the country. Cant boasts a 5-2 dual match record and picked up his 10th victory of the season this past Friday. Artem Ilyushin of MSU is ranked 92nd and has won five of his last six matches.
The Wildcats, who are fresh off a 5-2 road victory over the Ole Miss Rebels, boast three ranked singles players. Eric Quigley is ranked No. 5 in the country and is an impressive 9-2 in dual match play at the No. 1 position. Alex Musialek of UK stands at No. 57 nationally and is 8-5 in dual match action. Wildcats' Alberto Gonzalez is No. 86 and is 5-3 in dual play.
The Bulldogs and Wildcats will serve it up at 1 p.m. CT on Sunday at the A.J. Pitts Tennis Center where admission is free at all home MSU tennis matches. Live stats will be available at www.mstateathletics.com.