BATON ROUGE – The LSU Lady Tiger tennis team will look to extend its SEC match win streak to three when it travels to Starkville to face Mississippi State on Sunday at 1 p.m. CDT.
LSU (4-6, 2-1 SEC) heads to Starkville after a thrilling victory over Ole Miss on Friday. Mississippi State (2-7, 0-3 SEC) enters the contest having lost its last four matches including its first three to open conference play.
“Mississippi State always presents us with a challenge, especially in Starkville,” said LSU women’s tennis coach Tony Minnis. “We will have to come out with focus and intensity if we expect to get a win.”
Freshman Alexandra Perper leads the Lady Bulldogs out of the No. 1 post. The Mississippi State ace has put together a 4-4 singles record thus far this spring. Her lone conference victory came against Kentucky’s Megan Broderick last Sunday.
Perper teams with sophomore Danielle Terpko to propel the squad’s doubles team. The tandem is 2-2 playing out of the top position for the Lady Bulldogs and fell to No. 34 Claudine Paulson and Anouk Tigu of Arkansas 8-2 on Friday in Starkville.
Lady Tiger junior Whitney Wolf heads to Starkville playing her best tennis of the season. The Pride, La., product lost a spirited three-set battle with Ole Miss ace and No. 22 Kristi Boxx 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 on Friday.
LSU’s Ebie Wilson enters the matchup having won seven of her last eight matches and holds a 7-2 spring singles record. On Friday against Ole Miss, with her match tied at five games in the third set and with the overall team match square at three, the sophomore tallied two consecutive games to notch the win and clinch the overall match for LSU.
Wilson and freshman Ariel Morton continue to guide the Lady Tigers in doubles play out of the No. 3 slot. The pair has now amassed victories in three-straight outings including Friday’s defeat of the Rebel combo of Caroline Rhode-Moe and Vivian Vlaar which helped LSU pick up the doubles point.
LSU leads the all-time series with Mississippi State 24-8 including last season’s 6-1 defeat of the Lady Bulldogs in Baton Rouge.
At the conclusion of play in Starkville, LSU will return home for a Wednesday doubleheader with Iowa at 12 p.m. and Grambling at 5 p.m. CDT.
Admission is free to both matches and live stats will be provided for both matches as well and can be followed at www.LSUsports.net/livestats.
Follow the LSU women’s tennis team on Twitter @LSUwten and on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/LSUwten.