No. 7 MSU To Face No. 3 Ohio State In NCAA Quarterfinals Sunday Morning

Sunday, May 20

Winston-Salem, N.C.

9:00 AM

Mississippi State

Ohio State

Mississippi State will make its sixth appearance in the NCAA quarterfinals Sunday morning vs. Ohio State.

No. 7 MSU To Face No. 3 Ohio State In NCAA Quarterfinals Sunday Morning

May 19, 2018 | Men's Tennis

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WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – For just the sixth time in program history and the first time since 1998, the Mississippi State men's tennis team is set to take the court in the NCAA Team Championship quarterfinals, facing Ohio State Sunday morning.

Sunday's match will feature a pair of top 10 teams, as the No. 6 seed and seventh-ranked Bulldogs (23-2) will take on the third-ranked (and third-seeded) Buckeyes (32-2) at 10 a.m. ET (9 a.m. CT) at the Wake Forest Tennis Complex's lower courts.

The winner moves on to take on either second-seeded UCLA or 10th-seeded Southern Cal, who play at the same time on Sunday, in the national semifinals on Monday at 4 p.m. ET (3 p.m. CT). MSU will be looking to advance to the NCAA semis for the first time since 1998 and just the third time in program history.

"Ohio State is well-coached and has very talented players," fourth-year head coach Matt Roberts said. "We know they're going to be a very tough test, as is every team at this stage, and I know we are going to be up to this challenge. We're looking forward to another very exciting match featuring two very good teams."

State reached Sunday's quarterfinals by posting a hard-fought 4-1 victory against 11th-seeded Texas on Friday indoors in Chapel Hill, N.C., taking doubles and then fending off a big Longhorn rally in singles to claim wins on courts 2, 3 and 6 – two of them in three-set battles - to propel the Bulldogs past the Longhorns.

MSU In The ITA Rankings…

In the most latest Intercollegiate Tennis Association team rankings released on May 3, MSU jumped back up to No. 7 nationally. Five Bulldogs made the cut in the most recent singles and doubles rankings. In singles, two-time All-American and SEC Player of the Year Nuno Borges remained at No. 2 in the nation, tying his career-best, while earning the No. 3 seed in the 2018 NCAA Singles Championship. Sophomore Giovanni Oradini is ranked 23rd nationally, while junior Strahinja Rakic is ranked No. 84 in the country. In doubles, a trio of Bulldog duos grace the rankings, led by Borges and Rakic now in the nation's top spot, making them the ninth and 10th Bulldogs (men or women) to earn a No. 1 ranking in singles or doubles. Rakic also earned All-America status when he and Borges grabbed the No. 1 seed in this year's NCAA Doubles Championship. The dynamic duo of Niclas Braun and Oradini are up 23 spots to No. 38, while Braun and Trevor Foshey sit at 87th nationally.

About Ohio State…

The Buckeyes enter Sunday's match riding a 20-match win streak after defeating No. 37 Minnesota 4-1 on Friday in Winston-Salem. OSU is making its 18th-straight NCAA Championship appearance and its 12th trip to the quarters (third straight).

Ohio State boasts five ranked singles players, led by three-time All-American Mikael Torpegaard at No. 6 nationally. JJ Wolf comes in at 41st, while John McNally and Kyle Seelig are ranked 92nd and 96th, respectively. Rounding out the ranked Buckeyes in singles is Martin Joyce, who sits at the No. 112 spot.

OSU has been one of the nation's best in doubles play this season and bring to Winston-Salem a pair of ranked duos - Joyce and Torpegaard (25th) and McNally and Torpegaard (61st). The Buckeyes have captured the doubles point 19 matches in a row entering Sunday's contest against MSU.

Tickets

Tickets for the 2018 NCAA Tennis Championships can be purchased through the Wake Forest ticket office.

Live Video/Stats

All matches at the Wake Forest Tennis Complex will feature live scoringand live video.

What To Note As MSU Faces Ohio State…

MSU is in its 94th season of tennis, with Matt Roberts in his fourth season at the helm.
State is a top 16 national seed for the first time since 2013; its No. 6 NCAA seeding is the program's highest since being No. 4 in 1998.
The Bulldogs and Buckeyes have met just twice in history, with both teams earning a win.
State is one of a nation-best three SEC teams in the NCAA quarterfinals, joining Texas A&M and Florida.
Under Roberts in the NCAA Championship, the Bulldogs are 7-3 in four trips. In total, the Bulldogs are making their 27th appearance in the team championship, their eighth in a row and 23^rdin the last 28 years.
When the Bulldogs have won doubles in 2018, they are 18-2 and have won 19 of the last 21 doubles points including 10 in a row.
Top-ranked Nuno Borges and Strahinja Rakic have won nine of their last 11 matches as a tandem.
Niclas Braun and Giovanni Oradini have won 16 of their last 18 doubles matches.
Borges has won six of his last eight matches, while also leading the team with 19 ranked singles wins.
Oradini has won five in a row in singles, and 12 of his last 14.
Trevor Foshey has won four in a row and six of his last seven.
Three Bulldogs earned bids to the upcoming NCAA Singles and Doubles Championships—Borges (singles and doubles automatic), Rakic (doubles w/ Borges automatic) and Oradini (singles at-large)

Next Up For MSU…

Should the Bulldogs advance, they will face one of two teams out of the Pac-12—either second-ranked UCLA (29-2) or 11th-ranked USC (20-8), who will also take the court at 10 a.m. ET on Sunday.

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