No. 34 MSU Hosts No. 13 Ole Miss In Magnolia State Showdown
STARKVILLE, Miss. – For the 76th time in history, one of the fiercest rivalries in college tennis will be renewed Wednesday, March 25, as the No. 34 Mississippi State Bulldogs (12-5, 3-2 SEC) host the No. 13 Ole Miss Rebels (12-4, 4-1 SEC) at the A.J. Pitts Tennis Centre.
The midweek battle is set for a 3 p.m. first serve as State looks to capture its sixth win in the last eight meetings with the Rebels. Live stats for Wednesday’s match can be found at HailState.com.
The Bulldogs invite all Greek members to attend, with the largest-attending fraternity and sorority receiving prizes. MSU also invites all members of Bully’s Kids Club out to the match as well, while fans will receive free MSU souvenir drinking glasses while supplies last. There will also be StarkVegas t-shirt tosses throughout the match, as well as Chick-fil-A giveaways.
The 76th edition of the MSU-Ole Miss rivalry will have a new feel to it, as both sides are under new leadership in 2015. MSU’s Matt Roberts and Ole Miss’ Toby Hansson are both in their first season at the helm of their respective programs after previously serving as assistants for each.
Despite State’s recent success in the series, Ole Miss holds the all-time advantage with a 48-27 record. Of MSU’s 27 wins against OM, 10 of those have come in Starkville.
State enters Wednesday after dropping a tight 4-1 decision to No. 7 Texas A&M on Friday and having Sunday’s contest against No. 23 LSU postponed to April 12 due to rain.
Sophomores Rishab Agarwal and No. 108 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 122nd nationally, has earned three wins this season while playing mainly at the No. 3 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 has now won the match’s opening point in 12 of the last 13 matches and is 11-3 this season when doing so.
The 14th-ranked duo of Cash and Lakat is 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, the highest ranked win for an MSU duo this season. The Bulldog tandem is now 4-0 in conference play. State’s tandem of Cutura and Schmid is 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 Rebels come into Starkville riding a three-match winning streak after most recently sweeping the No. 15 Florida Gators on Sunday. UM is led by No. 15 Nik Scholtz (10-3 this spring) and No. 84 Stefan Lindmark (11-3 this spring). In doubles, Ole Miss is paced by the 45th-ranked team of Gustav Hansson and William Kallberg, who are 4-5 at the No. 1 position in dual match play and 12-7 for the overall year.
MSU will hit the road after the mid-week clash with the Rebels, heading to Kentucky and No. 52 Tennessee. The Bulldogs face the Wildcats on Friday, March 27, at 4 p.m., followed by a Sunday, March 29, contest at No. 40 Tennessee at 12 p.m.
For more information on Mississippi State men’s tennis and updates, fans can follow the Bulldogs on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at HailStateMT.