STARKVILLE, Miss. — The 17th-ranked LSU men’s tennis team is set to begin competition in a critical Southeastern Conference weekend on Friday as the Tigers face off with the Mississippi State Bulldogs at 2 p.m. at the A.J. Pitts Tennis Centre in Starkville, Miss.
“This is another big SEC weekend for us,” said LSU head coach Jeff Brown. “We’ve been playing some of our best tennis lately and hopefully we’ll be able to see some more of it here on the road. The main thing for us against Mississippi State is to try and win the doubles point and to get a good start in singles play in order to take the crowd out of it.”
LSU heads into Friday’s Western Division matchup with a 10-6 overall record and a 3-5 mark against conference opponents. The Tigers are coming off of their biggest win of the 2003 dual-match season on Sunday as they downed the 12th-ranked Kentucky Wildcats, 4-2, at home at the W.T. “Dub” Robinson Tennis Stadium.
The Tigers will face off against the fifth-ranked Ole Miss Rebels on Sunday at 1 p.m. in the Sunday match of the SEC weekend series.
Mississippi State enters the dual contest with an overall record of 7-9 on the season and an identical 3-5 mark in SEC play. The Bulldogs are currently tied for third place in the SEC Western Division along with both LSU and the Alabama Crimson Tide.
Last weekend, Mississippi State snapped a three-match losing streak by upsetting No. 35 Tennessee, 6-1, on Friday and then by dropping the 19th-ranked Georgia Bulldogs, 5-2, in the Sunday match at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex. With the pair of wins, Mississippi State improved its 2003 road record to 3-2 on the season.
“They (Mississippi State) are playing really well right now,” Brown said. “They beat both Tennessee and Georgia on the road last week and they are probably playing some of their best tennis of the season as well. Playing on the road in the SEC is always tough and it’s definitely going to be a challenge for us to come away with a big win tomorrow.”
LSU will be led in Friday’s divisional rivalry by sophomore Peter Richman.
Richman, the 38th-ranked singles player in the nation, owns a 14-13 overall record and has accumulated six victories over top-100 ranked opponents this season.
The Bulldogs boast nationally ranked singles players in No. 25 Romain Ambert and the 123rd-ranked Max Fomine. Ambert owns an 11-5 record at the No. 1 singles position, while Fomine has competed at predominantly either the No. 3 or No. 4 spot in the Mississippi State starting lineup. Fomine possesses a team-high 22-11 record on the season.
The 17th-ranked LSU men’s tennis team will attempt to improve its 2003 road record to 2-4 on Friday as the Tigers challenge the Mississippi State Bulldogs at 2 p.m. at the A.J. Pitts Tennis Centre in Starkville, Miss.