No. 12 MSU Tennis Hits Road For SEC Matchup At No. 11 Florida
STARKVILLE, Miss. - After a lengthy two-week break, Mississippi State's 12th-ranked men's tennis (12-4, 3-1 SEC) squad hits the road as the Bulldogs take on the No. 11 Gators of Florida (9-6, 2-2 SEC) on Friday.
Match time is slated for 5 p.m. ET (4 p.m. CT) at the Ring Tennis Complex on the University of Florida's campus.
Earning his highest career ranking at MSU, 14th-ranked senior Artem Ilyushin moved up 13 spots last week after defeating five top-40 opponents including third-ranked Will Spencer of Georgia.
Two other seniors lead the charge for the Bulldogs as 36th-ranked George Coupland moved up five spots in the latest rankings followed by No. 37 Louis Cant. Between these three seniors, the trio has combined for a 35-7 overall record this spring.
Also contributing to State's rankings is 113th-ranked sophomore Malte Stropp. Stropp has compiled an impressive 11-3 career SEC record for the Bulldogs.
In doubles, the 24th-ranked duo of Cant and Stropp have opened SEC play with a solid 3-1 slate.
Florida is led by 56th-ranked Nassim Slilam followed by No. 57 Tripper Carleton, 61st-ranked Bob van Overbeek, No. 93 Spencer Newman and 114th-ranked Michael Alford.
In doubles, the top-10 duo of Slilam and Billy Federhofer, ranked eighth, leads the charge for the Gators followed by 26th-ranked Carleton and Newman.
The Gators hold a 31-14 advantage over the Bulldogs all-time with Florida taking the last meeting 4-2 in the 2011 SEC Tournament held in Gainesville.
Live stats will be available through www.hailstate.com. Also, follow @mstateMT on Twitter for live updates.