No. 9 Bulldogs To Face Rebels In SEC Quarterfinals Friday In Tuscaloosa

Friday, April 27

Tuscaloosa, Ala.

12:00 PM

Mississippi State

Ole Miss

Ninth-ranked MSU will take on in-state rival Ole Miss in the 2018 SEC Championship quarterfinals on Friday.

No. 9 Bulldogs To Face Rebels In SEC Quarterfinals Friday In Tuscaloosa

April 26, 2018 | Men's Tennis

2018 SEC Championship HQ Friday Live Video (if outdoors)Friday Live Stats

STARKVILLE, Miss. – After closing the regular season with its highest Southeastern Conference finish since 1993, the ninth-ranked and second-seeded Mississippi State men's tennis team (17-2) is set to open play in the 2018 SEC Championship on Friday.

The Bulldogs will take on a familiar foe, facing in-state foe 10th-seeded and 40th-ranked Ole Miss at Noon CT at the Alabama Tennis Stadium in Tuscaloosa. The Rebels (14-11) advanced with a second round upset of No. 28 South Carolina Thursday afternoon.

Tickets are available online or at the gate. All-week passes are $15, while one-day tickets are $5 for adults and $2 for kids 18 and under.

Last Time Out For MSU…

The last time the Bulldogs took the court, they dominated from start-to-finish in Baton Rouge against LSU, winning handily 6-0 in the regular season finale to end the SEC slate at a remarkable 11-1. State began by taking the doubles point with a 6-1 win by Nuno Borges and Strahinja Rakic on court 1, followed by a tight 6-4 win by Florian Broska and Trevor Foshey at the No. 3 position.

MSU kept rolling in singles, taking all six first sets. Foshey was the first Bulldog off the court with a 6-1, 6-1 win on court 6. Rakic then capped off a 6-3, 6-0 win on court 3, followed shortly thereafter by Niclas Braun's clincher on court 4 by a 6-4, 6-2 mark. Broska then continued his solid freshman campaign with a 6-1, 6-3 win at No. 5. To close out the day, Borges notched yet another ranked victory at the No. 1 spot, taking a convincing 6-4, 6-2 victory.

MSU In The ITA Rankings…

In this week's Intercollegiate Tennis Association team rankings, MSU remained at No. 9 nationally—its fourth straight week in the top 10. Five Bulldogs made the cut in the most recent singles and doubles rankings. In singles, the All-American Borges rose to No. 2 in the nation, tying his career-best. Oradini is ranked 27th nationally, while Rakic is ranked No. 77 in the country. In doubles, a pair of Bulldog duos highlight the rankings, led by Borges and Rakic at the pair's career-best No. 15. The undefeated dynamic duo of Braun and Oradini are ranked 61st nationally.

About Ole Miss…

Ole Miss enters Friday's match coming off a 4-1 second round victory against seventh-seeded South Carolina. The Rebels are led in singles by 31st-ranked Tim Sandkaulen. Gustav Hansson rounds out the ranked singles players at No. 44. In doubles, Sandkaulen and Fabian Fallert team up to form the nation's 17th-ranked tandem. Sandkaulen and Grey Hamilton are ranked 46th nationally.

What To Note As MSU Faces Ole Miss…

MSU is in its 94th season of tennis, with Matt Roberts in his fourth season at the helm.
Against LSU on 4/15, Roberts earned his 76^thcareer victory, moving himself into fourth place all-time in program history for wins by a head coach.
Since the league moved to dual match format in 1990, the Bulldogs are an even 27-27 overall in the SEC Championship. Of late, MSU has shined in the tourney, reaching at least the semifinal round three years in a row and reaching the finals in 2017.
In the series against Ole Miss since 1970, the Rebels hold a 50-29 lead. However, the Bulldogs have seen the most success of late, winning seven of the last 11 contests.
On April 8, the Bulldogs notched a dominant 5-2 triumph over the Rebels in Oxford, breaking a two-match Ole Miss win streak in the series.
In the SEC Championship, the teams have met three times, the last one coming in 2000 with Ole Miss winning 4-3 in Starkville in the quarterfinals. State last defeated the Rebels in the tourney in the 1996 semifinals in Fayetteville, Ark., when the Bulldogs went on to win the tournament.
Under Roberts in the SEC Championship, the Bulldogs are 5-3 in three trips, including reaching the finals in 2017 in Knoxville, Tenn.
When the Bulldogs have won doubles in 2018, they are 12-2 and have won 13 of the last 15 doubles points.
At the No. 2 position in doubles MSU is a perfect 16-0.
Niclas Braun and Giovanni Oradini have won 12 consecutive matches in doubles—all in dual match play—and 13 of their last 14 matches.
Strahinja Rakic has won eight of his last 10 matches.
Nuno Borges has won three matches in a row and five of his last six. He has also won a team-best 18 matches against ranked foes.
Braun has won eight of his last 10 singles bouts, while Florian Broska has won six of his last seven.
Oradini has won seven of his last nine singles matches.

Live Scoring/Video

Live Scoring: https://hailst.at/2vUDxOi
Live Video (if outdoors): https://hailst.at/2vUDG4i

Next Up For MSU…

The winner of MSU's match against the Rebels will take on either third-seeded and 10th-ranked Florida or 19th-ranked Vanderbilt, who is seeded sixth in the tourney, in Saturday's semifinals at 2 p.m. CT.

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