No. 33 Men's Tennis To Welcome No. 17 LSU Friday
STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Looking for its third victory in a row, Mississippi State's 33rd-ranked men's tennis team will host 17th-ranked LSU Friday. Match time is set for 2 p.m. at MSU's A.J. Pitts Tennis Centre.
State, which climbed 13 spots in the latest Omni Hotels Collegiate Rankings, released Wednesday, is 7-9 overall, 3-5 in Southeastern Conference play after posting big upsets wins over 35th-ranked Tennessee and 19th-ranked Georgia on the road last weekend.
LSU (10-6, 3-5 SEC) moved up three spots in the rankings. The Tigers fell 5-2 to eighth-ranked Vanderbilt last Friday but rebounded to upset 12th-ranked Kentucky 4-2 on Sunday.
MSU and LSU have met on the tennis court 33 times in the modern era (since 1969). The Tigers hold a 24-8-1 series lead on the Bulldogs in that time. LSU has claimed seven of the last nine meetings between the teams, but State has secured three of the last five in Starkville.
State is led by junior all-American Romain Ambert who is 29-9 at the No. 1 singles position during his career and is currently ranked 25th nationally. LSU has one player ranked in singles in sophomore Peter Richman (No. 38). The Tigers also sports the nation's 13th-ranked doubles duo in Bryan Fisher and Jason Hazley.
"We had a very good weekend last week and we are proud of those wins," MSU head coach Sylvain Guichard said. "But we don't want it to end there. We have an opportunity to finish the season strong and just need to keep working hard and doing the things necessary to allow us to do that.
"LSU is a very good team and has some good wins this season. We will have to be very focused to upset them. We hope our fans will come out and support us."
Following Friday's action, the Bulldogs hit the road Sunday to visit 31st-ranked Arkansas in Fayetteville in a 1 p.m. affair. State will then return home next Saturday, April 12, to close out the 2003 regular season, welcoming fifth-ranked, arch-rival Mississippi at 1 p.m. as part of Super Bulldog Weekend activities.