No. 35 MSU Tennis Looks To Rebound Against No. 23 LSU
STARKVILLE, Miss. – Looking to rebound after a heartbreaking loss on Friday to No. 7 Texas A&M, the 35th-ranked Mississippi State men’s tennis team (12-5, 3-2 SEC) host the No. 23 LSU Tigers (14-3, 4-2 SEC) on Sunday, March 22.
The showdown is set for a 1 p.m. CT, first serve at the A.J. Pitts Tennis Centre. Due to the threat of rain throughout the day, fans should consult HailStateMT on Twitter and HailState.com for updates on the match’s status.
State will be looking to capture its sixth victory in the last eight matches. Live stats can be found at HailState.com.
As was Friday’s match, Sunday’s contest will be a part of MSU tennis’ Greek Challenge. The Bulldogs invite all Greek members to attend, with the largest-attending fraternity and sorority at the end of the season receiving prizes. Also, fans will receive free MSU souvenir drinking glasses while supplies last.
The Bulldogs and Tigers meet for the 49th time in history, with LSU holding a 34-14-1 advantage. MSU has earned half those 14 wins at home in Starkville. Despite trailing in the series, the Bulldogs have been dominant against LSU as of late, winning five of the last six matches.
State enters Sunday after dropping a 4-1 decision to No. 7 Texas A&M in a match that was much closer than the score shows. The Bulldogs were mere minutes away from clinching victories on courts three and five in one of the most intense matches of the 2015 season to date.
Sophomores Rishab Agarwal and No. 112 Florian Lakat have paced the Bulldogs in singles play so far this year, both with 10 wins each in dual match action. Lakat has captured all 10 wins at the No. 1 position, with his latest being a straight-sets win against Auburn’s No. 59 Lukas Ollert. Agarwal, currently riding a three-match winning streak, has earned eight of his victories this spring at the No. 5 spot.
Newcomers Juan Cruz Estevarena and Mate Cutura have also been solid contributors to State’s singles attack. Estevarena is 8-2 this spring, splitting the wins between the No. 2 and 3 spots. Cutura, who is on a three-match winning streak and leads MSU with a 3-0 SEC record, is 7-3 this spring.
Senior Tassilo Schmid, ranked 105th nationally, has earned three wins this season while playing mainly at the third position in the lineup recently. Julian Cash, the SEC Freshman of the Week last week, has four victories so far this spring.
MSU kept its dominance in doubles rolling on Friday, defeating TAMU to take the early lead. State now has won the match’s opening point in 12 of the last 13 matches and is 11-3 this season when doing so.
The 46th-ranked duo of Cash and Lakat are 5-0 at the No. 1 position after picking up a 6-4 win against the Aggies’ No. 9 team of Harrison Adams and Shane Vinsant, their highest-ranked win of the season. The Bulldog tandem is now 4-0 in conference play. State’s tandem of Cutura and Schmid are 10-1 this spring, picking up nine of those victories at the No. 2 position.
Rounding out the doubles order is the team of Estevarena and Robin Haden, who are 3-3 this spring after wins against foes from Auburn and Texas A&M in their last two matches.
The Tigers come into Starkville riding a three-match winning streak, having defeated Alabama, New Orleans and No. 11 Vanderbilt in recent contests. Leading the way for LSU is 85th-ranked Jordan Daigle, who is 8-2 this spring at the No. 1 spot. No. 117 Chris Simpson has also been crucial for the Tigers, posting a 12-2 dual match record.
In doubles, LSU is led by the 18th-ranked duo of Daigle and Boris Arias, who are 7-1 this spring, with four of those wins coming at the No. 1 position.
State will round out the current home stretch with a Wednesday, March 25, showdown against No. 13 Ole Miss (3 p.m.), a match rescheduled from earlier in the year.
For more information on Mississippi State men’s tennis and updates, fans can follow the Bulldogs on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at HailStateMT.