No. 13 MSU Men's Tennis Travels To ITA Kick-Off Weekend

Saturday, January 27

Stillwater, Okla.

9:00 AM

Mississippi State

Wisconsin

Giovanni Oradini leads the Bulldogs with 16 wins in 2017-18.

No. 13 MSU Men's Tennis Travels To ITA Kick-Off Weekend

January 26, 2018 | Men's Tennis

ITA Kick-Off Weekend HQ Live Video Live Stats

STARKVILLE, Miss. – Looking to build on its undefeated season-opening three-match home stand, the 13th-ranked Mississippi State men's tennis team (3-0) is set for its first road trip of the 2018 campaign.

The Bulldogs will travel to Stillwater, Okla., for the 10th annual ITA Kick-Off Weekend, to be held in OSU's Greenwood Tennis Center indoor facility. On Saturday, State will face Big Ten foe Wisconsin (2-0) at 9 a.m. CT. On Sunday, the Bulldogs will face either No. 14 host Oklahoma State or Kentucky.

"We look forward to this great event each year," fourth-year head coach Matt Roberts said. "It's an NCAA Tournament-like atmosphere with great programs in the field that are all well-respected and well-coached. Wisconsin is going to be a great test for us in the first round. Oklahoma State has a great facility and will do a great job hosting. We are ready for a great weekend of tennis."

Last Time Out For MSU…

In their last match, the Bulldogs earned a hard-fought 5-2 victory over Miami in Starkville. MSU's duo of Nuno Borges and Strahinja Rakic gave State an early advantage by earning a 6-2 victory at the No. 2 position before the Hurricanes evened it up on court 1 with a win against MSU's 49th-ranked tandem of Niclas Braun and Trevor Foshey. Court 3 went down to the wire, but ended with the Hurricanes taking the doubles point in a 7-6(1) decision against State's No. 41 pair of Florian Broska and Giovanni Oradini.

In singles action, State bounced back from doubles to win five of the six singles bouts, led by the third-ranked Borges at the top spot. No. 29 Oradini, No. 54 Rakic, No. 118 Braun and Foshey also registered singles victories for the Maroon and White. Borges, Rakic, Braun and Foshey all carry undefeated (3-0) dual match records into this weekend.

About ITA Kick-Off Weekend At Oklahoma State…

ITA Kick-Off Weekend is in its 10th season of existence, with the Bulldogs appearing in nine of them. The team in the four-team tournament in Stillwater that wins two matches advances to ITA National Indoor Championships, held Feb. 16-18 in Seattle, Wash. Sixteen teams around the country will advance to Seattle.

State's first opponent, Wisconsin, boasts a talented doubles lineup led by ninth-ranked Chema Carranza and Josef Dodridge. Carranza leads the Badgers in singles play with an overall record of 8-2 and 2-0 this season at the No. 1 position. UW is coming into the weekend after a pair of 6-1 victories on Jan. 20 against DePaul and Omaha.

The other two teams in the field - Kentucky and host Oklahoma State - meet at noon Saturday. The Wildcats enter the weekend at 2-1 overall after dropping a tight 4-3 decision at Notre Dame on Jan. 21. In singles, UK has a trio of ranked players led by Ryotaro Matsumura at No. 34 nationally. Trey Yates (No. 77) and William Bushamuka (No. 84) round out the ranked singles Wildcats. Yates teams up with Enzo Wallart to make up the nation's 28th-ranked doubles pair.

The 14th-ranked Cowboys are 4-0 to open their 2018 campaign, most recently downing Arkansas, 5-2, in Fayetteville on Jan. 21. OSU, picked to finish fourth in the Big 12 in the preseason coaches poll, owns a solid lineup featuring this week's Big 12 Player of the Week and two-time All-American Julian Cash at the No. 1 position. The Cowboys have one ranked singles player in Mathieu Scaglia at No. 93 nationally.

What To Note As MSU Travels To ITA Kick-Off Weekend…

MSU is in its 94th season of tennis, with Matt Roberts in his fourth season at the helm.
In the previous nine editions of ITA Kick-Off Weekend, the Bulldogs have appeared in eight, holding a 10-6 overall record. MSU has gone 2-0 in the event three times, most recently in 2017.
State has faced Wisconsin just twice in the history of the two programs, with the Bulldogs holding a 2-0 lead in the series dating back to 1970. Both matches were played in Starkville. MSU hasn't faced the Badgers since 1979, when it won a 7-2 decision in Starkville.
Against Oklahoma State, MSU is 1-1 in the series that dates back to 1980. State won the most recent meeting in 1989 in Montgomery, Ala., 5-2. MSU has never played OSU in Stillwater.
The Wildcats are, on the other hand, a familiar foe of the Bulldogs. State has won the last four meetings in the series with its SEC counterpart, but UK holds the overall lead in the series at 29-22. In neutral site matches, Kentucky leads 4-3.
Oradini leads MSU with a 16-7 overall record, including 10 wins against ranked foes.
Borges, the reigning SEC Player of the Year, comes into the match riding an nine-match win streak dating back to November and has not dropped a set in that streak. He has also won five straight singles matches in dual match action.

Live Video/Stats

All matches at ITA Kick-Off Weekend will feature live scoring and live streaming. All matches will be streamed live via okstate.com/watchtennis. In addition, live stats are available here, with the password being "cowboys".

Next Up For MSU…

After returning from Stillwater, the Bulldogs will return to A.J. Pitts Tennis Centre to face San Diego State at 1 p.m. on Feb. 9 before welcoming Pepperdine at noon on Feb. 11. All of MSU's regular season home matches are free.

For more information on the Mississippi State men's tennis program, follow "HailStateMT" on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.