SEC Play Begins As No. 41 MSU Men?s Tennis Travels To Alabama
STARKVILLE, Miss. – Conference play has arrived, as the No. 41 Mississippi State Bulldogs (8-3) open up Southeastern Conference action on Friday, Feb. 27, in Tuscaloosa against the Alabama Crimson Tide (2-7).
The SEC opener, slated for a 5 p.m. CT first serve, is the first of 12 league matches MSU will play this season. Friday also marks the second time in less than a week that the Bulldogs and the Crimson Tide will do battle on the courts. State defeated UA 4-3 in the first round of consolation play last Saturday at the Blue Gray National Tennis Classic in Montgomery.
State has seen recent success in its conference openers, having won the last four. MSU opened up league play two of the last three seasons against UA, picking up a pair of wins in Starkville. All-time, the Bulldogs are 30-24 against the Crimson Tide, with a 13-11 record in Tuscaloosa.
The Bulldogs are led by a pair of ranked singles players and one ranked doubles squad. In the latest ITA National Rankings, State’s leader in the lineup, Florian Lakat, came in at No. 114. The sophomore is 10-5 for the 2014-15 season, while holding a 7-2 record in the spring. Lakat is 2-0 against Crimson Tide opponents.
Tassilo Schmid is ranked 97th in the nation and has picked up six victories overall for the year. Schmid has been a mainstay in the upper half of the MSU lineup, seeing time at both the No. 2 and No. 3 positions. Schmid has teamed with fellow Bulldog Mate Cutura for the 46th-ranked doubles team in the nation. The pair are undefeated in the spring with a 7-0 ledger, with most recently clinching the doubles point in State’s two matches at the Blue Gray last weekend.
Rounding out the singles lineup is a trio of newcomers and a second-year Bulldog. Freshman Juan Cruz Estevarena, who has seen time at the two and three spots in the lineup, is 6-1 this spring and picked up his 10th victory last weekend. Junior college transfer Mate Cutura is 4-3 for the spring, playing a majority of his matches at No. 4. Julian Cash made his dual match singles debut last weekend, picking up a win in MSU’s match against Princeton.
Sophomore Rishab Agarwal rounds out State’s lineup, presenting an 8-3 record for the spring and a 14-6 showing for the year overall, both which lead the Bulldogs. Fellow sophomore Robin Haden has also seen time this season, going 5-3 in dual match contests.
In doubles, MSU is led by the pair of Estevarena and Lakat, who are 4-2 in the spring. Anchoring MSU’s tandem lineup is Cash and Haden, who are 4-1 for the year.
As for the visitors, the Crimson Tide enter Friday's contest looking to snap a seven-match losing streak. Inidividually, UA is led in singles play by a trio of players with nine wins: Sean Donohue, Andrew Goodwin and Nikko Madregallejo. Danny Kerznerman has been tops in the spring, with a 5-1 dual match record. In doubles, UA's team of Korey Lovett and Becker O'Shaughnessey, ranked 26th in the nation, has a 4-2 record at the No. 1 position this spring.
Following State’s SEC opener, it will return home to Starkville and the A.J. Pitts Tennis Centre to host in-state rival Ole Miss. The No. 41 Bulldogs and the No. 10 Rebels will clash on Thursday, March 5, with a 5 p.m. CT, first serve.
For more information on Mississippi State men’s tennis and updates, fans can follow the Bulldogs on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at HailStateMT.