MSU Women?s Tennis To Host LSU For Senior Day Sunday
STARKVILLE, Miss. – Following a tough 5-2 loss at the hands of No. 15 Texas A&M on Friday, the 35th-ranked Mississippi State women’s tennis team will look for a rebound on Sunday, as the Bulldogs welcome No. 41 LSU to the A.J. Pitts Tennis Centre.
The match is slated for a 1 p.m. CT start and will serve as MSU’s Senior Day, as the Bulldogs will recognize the trio of Naomi Tran, volunteer assistant coach Petra Ferancova and team manager Andy Lockard. The Bulldogs (13-6/3-5 SEC) will be looking to snap their three-match SEC losing skid, during which two losses have come against top 15 foes. Promotions include free MSU wallet stickers and free popcorn, while supplies last.
Sophomore Jasmine Lee, ranked 56th nationally, earned her third ranked win of the season on Friday, defeating Texas A&M’s 32nd-ranked Rachel Pierson at the No. 1 slot in straight sets. Since moving to the No. 1 position, Lee is 4-1. Sophomore Martina Frantova also had a big day on Friday, snapping her three-match SEC losing streak with a straight-set win on court four. The win moved Frantova to 10-6 in dual matches this season.
Junior Georgiana Patrasc also re-entered the rankings this week at No. 81, and enters Sunday with a 12-6 dual match record. 124th-ranked freshman Louise Ronaldson has spent most of her season at the No. 4 slot with an 8-5 record there, but earned her first SEC start at the No. 3 position on Friday. Despite just her second loss of the season on Friday, sophomore Timea Guibe continues to be a big part of the Bulldogs’ success at No. 6. Guibe is 12-2 in dual match play and 4-2 in the SEC.
Rounding out the singles lineup is freshman Jennifer Brown at the No. 5 slot. Brown is 11-5 in dual matches this season, earning nine of those wins at court five.
MSU also features a doubles tandem ranked in this week’s doubles rankings. Lee and Patrasc come in at No. 79, becoming the first Bulldog tandem to be ranked in the dual match season. The duo is 7-2 in dual matches and 3-2 in SEC play at the No. 2 position. The Bulldogs revamped the doubles lineup on Friday, moving Patrasc to the No. 1 slot with Frantova, while Ronaldson played with Lee at No. 2. On court three, Guibe was paired with Tran.
LSU comes into Starkville with a 14-7 overall mark and a 4-4 record in the SEC. Most recently, the Tigers earned a 4-2 upset of No. 21 Ole Miss on Friday in Oxford. LSU is led by 39th-ranked Joana Vale Costa, who is 9-6 in dual match play this season and 4-3 in the SEC. Vale Costa has anchored the No. 1 spot for the Tigers for a majority of the season. Skylar Kuykendall has also been big for the Tigers, earning a 17-3 dual match record, including nine wins at the No. 2 position. Other LSU players with double-digit wins include Abby Owens and Skylar Holloway, as both players have earned records of 12-5 and 12-5, respectively.
In doubles, the Tigers are primarily led by the tandem of 32nd-ranked Vale Costa and Noel Scott. The duo has combined for an 8-6 record at the top position, while Kuykendall and Owens are ranked 66th and own a 6-6 mark at the No. 2 slot.
Following Friday’s match, the Bulldogs will round out the 2015 home schedule with a Wednesday, April 1, match against Auburn (2 p.m.), a contest rescheduled from earlier in the season.
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