STARKVILLE, Miss. — The Tigers will have their first conference road-test when LSU travels to take on Mississippi State Friday in a 2 p.m. matchup on the Bulldogs’ courts at the Pitts Tennis Centre.
“We have a challenging weekend ahead,” LSU head coach Jeff Brown said. “Mississippi State has been very close to some significant wins against highly-ranked teams such as Vanderbilt, Kentucky and Ole Miss. They are very hungry, and we are in a similar position as well. It should be a competitive match.”
LSU (3-6, 1-1 SEC) last faced off against top-10 conference opponent Florida. Although the Gators notched a 7-0 victory, Tiger tandem Roger Anderson and Neal Skupski defeated Florida’s No. 16 duo Antoine Benneteau and Alexandre Lacroix, 8-6.
Leading LSU on the courts is 44th-ranked Neal Skupski. The Liverpool, England, native is 2-6 in dual competition, but has an overall 4-5 record against nationally-ranked opponents. Skupski teams up with freshman Roger Anderson for LSU’s top-court duo, and the pair is 5-4 on the season.
Mississippi State lists a 6-5 record and is 0-2 in conference play, dropping matches to league opponents Kentucky and Vanderbilt, 4-3, and 5-2, respectively. The Bulldogs are led in the rankings by No. 100 Louis Cant and No. 101 George Coupland. Both players compete on the top-three courts. Cant is 9-1 in dual competition and Coupland holds a 3-7 record.
LSU leads Mississippi State 44-15 in the all-time series, and the Tigers took the last meeting in 2009 in Baton Rouge. After a two-day marathon match due to rain, LSU was able to complete the singles portion of the match for a 4-2 victory over Mississippi State.
The match against Mississippi State is one of two conference matchups the Tigers will face this weekend. LSU will face No. 13 Ole Miss on Sunday at 1 p.m. on the Rebels’ home courts at the Palmer/Salloum Tennis Center.