No. 36 Tennis Bulldogs To Meet No. 24 Auburn On The Plains
With Friday's victory over the Crimson Tide, the Bulldogs improved to 5-6 overall, 1-2 in Southeastern Conference action. Auburn is 8-4, 2-3 in the SEC, following a heartbreaking 4-3 loss to eighth-ranked Mississippi which was completed Saturday after rains suspended play in the match with the Tigers leading 3-2 Friday.
MSU and Auburn have met on the tennis court 31 times in the modern era (since 1969). AU holds a slim 16-15 series lead on the Bulldogs in that time span. The Tigers have claimed the last three meetings between the teams, including two last season. AU won 5-2 in Starkville and then 4-0 in the second round of the NCAA Championship in Auburn. Prior to those three Tiger victories, State had won 10 in a row in the series.
MSU is led by junior all-American Romain Ambert, who is 25-8 at the No. 1 singles position during his career and has been ranked as high as No. 3 nationally. Auburn is paced by Rameez Junaid, currently ranked 20th in the country.
"Auburn will be another tough matchup for us," MSU head coach Sylvain Guichard said. "They have a solid lineup again this year and will obviously be tough on their home court. But, as we did at Alabama, if we play our game and fight, we can definitely win the match."
Following Sunday's contest, MSU will return home next weekend to host a pair of top 25 teams on the MSU campus. State will welcome 21st-ranked Vanderbilt this Friday at 2 p.m. before entertaining ninth-ranked Kentucky next Sunday at 1 p.m.