No. 9 Bulldogs, No. 14 Rebels Square Off In SEC Regular Season Finale
STARKVILLE, Miss. - With a share of the SEC West title already clinched, Mississippi State's ninth-ranked men's tennis squad (17-5, 8-2 SEC) seeks to win the Western Division outright as they face No. 14 rival Ole Miss (11-6, 7-3 SEC) in Oxford on Saturday. Match time is slated for 1 p.m. CT at the Palmer Salloum Tennis Center on the Ole Miss campus.
State also claimed the SEC Western Division outright in 2011. Equally important Saturday will be the battle for position in the seedings for the 2012 SEC Men's Tennis Championship, which MSU will host April 19-22 during Super Bulldog Weekend on campus.
Leading the charge for MSU this weekend is a trio of seniors in 12th-ranked Artem Ilyushin, No. 40 Louis Cant and 60th- ranked George Coupland. These three seniors have combined for a 49-11 dual-match record and 23-7 in SEC play.
Also earning a spot in the latest rankings is 68th-ranked sophomore Malte Stropp who has earned a career 15-5 SEC record thus far.
In doubles, MSU is led by the 39th-ranked duo of Louis Cant and Malte Stropp who is followed by the No. 53 pair of George Coupland and Artem Ilyushin.
Ole Miss is led by 14th-ranked freshman Nik Scholtz, with No. 27 Marcel Theimann, 49th-ranked Jonas Lutjen and No. 72 William Kallberg backing him up. The Theimann duo leads the Rebel charge in doubles at 16th followed by the No. 35 duo of Lutjen and Scholtz.
The Bulldogs have taken the last two meetings over UM with the most recent being a hard-fought, 4-2 win at the River Hills Cup in February in Jackson.
Live stats for Saturday's contest will be available through www.hailstate.com. Also, follow @mstateMT on Twitter for live updates.