"I hear the jargon about how tough the SEC is all the time, and yet after playing Florida, Auburn and Alabama and now having to face Mississippi State and Ole Miss, it truly is the most fierce league in which I've ever coached or played,” said Howard Joffe, who is in his fourth season as head coach of the Aggies. "Mississippi State is vastly improved and has already beaten Alabama, so we will need to play rather well to be successful in Starkville tomorrow afternoon.
"Ole Miss is another top-25 team that I'm quite certain is hungry and excited to face us. This will challenge our group but no doubt toughen us up for the home stretch of the season."
Texas A&M has won five of its last six matches to improve to 8-4 overall and 5-2 in conference matches, putting the Aggies in a tie with Kentucky for fourth place. A&M had won five consecutive matches, including victories over No. 6 Baylor and ninth-ranked and defending SEC champion Alabama, before falling to No. 2 Florida, 4-3, Tuesday at the George P. Mitchell Tennis Center to close out the home stand. The consecutive matches against Alabama and Florida were both decided in the last match standing, with the Gators winning a third-set tiebreaker to snap A&M's longest win streak of the season.
Mississippi State is 13-5 overall and in eighth place in the SEC with a 3-4 league record. The Bulldogs have lost their last two matches, falling 4-3 to South Carolina and 5-2 to Florida, both on the road.
Ole Miss enters the weekend 11-6 overall and in 10th place in the conference with a 3-5 ledger. The Rebels also fell at Florida, 5-2, and at South Carolina, 4-2, last weekend, and play host to LSU on Friday.
Individually, Texas A&M's Rutuja Bhosale is the reigning SEC Player of the Week, having won six consecutive matches to improve to 9-2 in dual matches, including 6-1 in league play. The sophomore from Shrirampur, India, is No. 57 in the nation in singles, second on the team to sophomore Rachel Pierson's No. 32 listing. Pierson leads the Aggies in overall singles wins with an 18-8 mark.
Sophomore Saska Gavrilovska is ranked 77th, and junior Stefania Hristov is No. 101 to round out the Aggies' ranked singles players.
In doubles, the duo of Ines Deheza and Hristov received a No. 16 ranking this week, marking the highest doubles ranking of the season for an A&M pair. They are 4-1 overall, including 3-0 at the No. 2 line.
Pierson and lone freshman Eva Paalma are No. 56 and are 4-4 overall, including a 3-2 record against ranked opponents. Meanwhile, Bhosale and Gavrilovska broke into the rankings at No. 80 this week. They are 9-4 overall, including 3-0 against ranked opponents. Most recently, Bhosale and Gavrilovska teamed to defeat 31st-ranked Josie Kuhlman and Peggy Porter of Florida to help the Aggies win the doubles point for the ninth time in 11 matches.
The Bulldogs have two singles players listed in the top 100: No. 56 Jasmine Lee and No. 81 Georgiana Patrasc. Lee is 12-2 in dual matches, including 5-2 in SEC play. Patrasc is 12-5 overall, including 9-4 at the No. 1 line.
The Rebels are led by Julia Jones, ranked No. 14 in the nation in singles with a 23-7 overall record. Arianne Hartono is No. 54 with an 18-9 overall mark.
A&M is 4-0 all-time against Mississippi State since the series began in 1989. Last year, A&M defeated the Bulldogs, 4-1, in a non-conference, season-opening matchup to begin the ITA Kick-Off Weekend in College Station and then blanked the Bulldogs, 4-0, in the SEC regular-season meeting, also at the Mitchell Tennis Center.
A&M leads the all-time series against Ole Miss, 4-1, including 2-0 in SEC matches. Last year, the Aggies defeated the then-No. 29 Rebels, 4-3, in College Station.
Visit 12thMan.com for more information on Texas A&M women's tennis. Aggie fans also can keep up to date with the A&M women's tennis team on Twitter by following @AggieWTEN or on Facebook at Facebook.com/AggieWomensTennis.