No. 42 State Women?s Tennis To Open SEC Championship Vs. No. 28 South Carolina Thursday
COLUMBIA, S.C. – After finishing the regular season with its best record since the 2005 dual match season, the 42nd-ranked Mississippi State women’s tennis team begins play in the 2015 SEC Championship Thursday, facing tournament host and 28th-ranked South Carolina. Thursday’s match is scheduled for a 1 p.m. CT start. Live stats will be provided for the tournament on South Carolina’s athletic website, gamecocksonline.com.
MSU (14-10, 4-9 SEC) enters the tournament as the 10th seed, while USC (14-9, 6-7 SEC) is the No. 7 seed in the event. The winner of the MSU-USC matchup will advance to Friday’s quarterfinals to face second-seeded and sixth-ranked Georgia at 1 p.m. CT.
The Bulldogs concluded the regular season with the most wins since the 1987 dual match season. At No. 42 in the latest ITA rankings, the Bulldogs enter the SEC Championship with their highest team ranking since 2005, when State was ranked 30th. In the last meeting between the two teams, South Carolina took a tight 4-3 victory over the Bulldogs in Columbia on March 20.
Sophomore sensation Jasmine Lee continues to move up in the singles rankings, entering the week at No. 35 in the nation. Lee earned her career-best win on Saturday, defeating 12th-ranked Julia Jones of Ole Miss in straight sets at the No. 1 position. Lee also owns the team’s best dual match record at 15-5 overall.
Despite dropping a tough three-set battle on Saturday, junior Georgiana Patrasc moved up in the rankings this week, jumping from 114th to 106th. Patrasc has anchored the No. 2 slot during the second half of the season and is 13-10 in dual match play, with 21 overall victories this season.
Behind Patrasc is sophomore Martina Frantova, who enters the week at 12-8 in dual match play. Her most recent victory against 125th-ranked Natalie Suk of Ole Miss gave Frantova the first ranked win of her career. Freshman Jennifer Brown also continues to play well, coming in with a 13-7 dual match record, with 11 of those wins coming at the No. 5 slot.
Rounding out the singles lineup for MSU is freshman Louise Ronaldson and sophomore Timea Guibe. A two-time SEC Freshman of the Week selection, Ronaldson has earned 10 victories, eight of which have come at No. 4 position. Guibe has anchored the No. 6 slot for most of the season and currently sits at a 13-5 dual match record entering the SEC Tournament.
South Carolina is coming off of a 4-2 loss at No. 5 Georgia on Sunday. The Gamecocks are led by 44th-ranked senior Elixane Lechemia, who comes in at 11-7 overall and 6-5 in the SEC. At the No. 6 slot is Ximena Siles Luna, who has collected an impressive 11-1 record in dual match play this season, while going 5-1 in the SEC. In doubles, the Gamecocks have four ranked teams, the most at one time since South Carolina joined the SEC in 1991-92. Hadley Berg and Caroline Dailey top the list at No. 40, while USC’s Blevins and Folland are at No. 46, with an 11-6 record at the No. 2 position. Berg and Lechemia are No. 67, while Dailey and Megen Cochran round out the rankings at No. 74.
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