State Netmen Host #16 Arkansas Friday; Travel To #19 LSU Sunday
"This is a very important weekend for our team," said MSU head coachSylvain Guichard. "We are playing two of the top teams in the country and wewill have to play extremely well to win either one of these matches. Theguys are excited about the opportunity and it should be a great weekend oftennis."
Arkansas enters Friday's match with a 12-6 overall record and are 3-3 inleague play. The Razorbacks are led by three seniors in Ardians Zguns, MattRoberts and Rohan Gajjar. Zguns, currently ranked 13th nationally, is 20-5overall this season and has a 12-2 record in dual matches. Roberts is 22-6including a 5-1 record in SEC competition. Gajjar is 15-6 and sports a 10-3dual match record. UA has knocked off six top-50 teams this season includinga 4-2 win over 11th-ranked Virginia at the National Indoor Championship. Inthe overall series between MSU and Arkansas, State holds an 18-5 advantageincluding a 7-1 mark in Starkville. The Bulldogs have won 15 of the last 16matches with the Razorbacks dating back to 1991. MSU defeated UA twice lastseason, once in a regular season meeting in Fayetteville and the other inthe first round of the SEC Championship.
LSU comes into the weekend ranked 19th in the latest ITA rankings. TheTigers are 11-7 this season and 4-2 in the SEC. The Tigers are led by22nd-ranked junior Ken Skupski. Skupski is 24-7 overall this seasonincluding a 14-4 mark in dual match play. He also won the SoutheasternConference Indoor Championships to open the 2006 spring season. The doublesteam of Skupski and Mark Growcott are currently ranked 12th nationally andare 5-2 in SEC play this season. LSU is coming off two wins this pastweekend including an upset win over eighth-ranked Florida. LSU leads theBulldogs 27-8-1 in the overall series and have won four straight over MSU.Last season, LSU defeated State 4-3 in Starkville.
Friday's match is set to begin at 2 p.m. CT at MSU's Pitts Tennis Centrewhile Sunday's match is slated for a 1 p.m. start at LSU's Dub RobinsonStadium.