Friday, March 1
Starkville
3:00 PM
Mississippi State
vs
Vanderbilt
No. 8 MSU is set to host No. 27 Vanderbilt at 3 p.m. Friday to open SEC play.
No. 8 Bulldogs Host No. 27 Vanderbilt Friday To Open 2019 SEC Slate
February 28, 2019 | Men's Tennis
by Caleb Garner, Graduate Assistant/Communications
STARKVILLE – Riding a two-match win streak to end a three-week road swing, the No. 8 Mississippi State men's tennis team is set to open the always-challenging SEC slate, welcoming No. 27 Vanderbilt at 3 p.m. Friday to the A.J. Pitts Tennis Centre.
The Bulldogs (8-2) face the Commodores (10-2) with hopes of extending their current 19-match winning streak at Pitts, with nine of those victories coming in conference play. State is coming off a big 4-2 win over No. 21 Oklahoma in a neutral site affair in Orlando, Florida. That win came on the heels of a 4-2 win over No. 11 Notre Dame at the ITA National Team Indoor Championship in Chicago.
MSU In The Oracle ITA Rankings …
The Bulldogs are currently ranked eighth nationally, marking the 16th straight edition of the rankings in which MSU has appeared in the top 25 and its 12th appearance in a row in the top 10. In the ITA national singles rankings, two-time All-American Nuno Borges leads three State players at No. 3 in the nation, while Giovanni Oradini and Niclas Braun are ranked 80th and 82nd, respectively. State boasts a pair of ranked doubles tandems in sixth-ranked Braun and Giovanni Oradini and No. 11 Borges and Strahinja Rakic.
Know The Foe: Vanderbilt
Vanderbilt enters Friday's match having won seven matches in a row and 10 of 12 to open the season, most recently taking a 6-1 victory over North Florida before defeating Lipscomb 4-0 in a doubleheader on Feb. 22. The Bulldogs and Commdores share one common opponent – Notre Dame - to whom the Commodores dropped a 4-0 decision on Jan. 26 before State took down the Fighting Irish at the ITA National Indoors on Feb. 17.
The Commodores have one ranked doubles tandem in No. 52 Cameron Klinger and Billy Rowe. Last season, State downed VU in Starkville 4-2 behind Florian Broska's three-set, match-clinching victory on court 5.
Need To Know …
Promotions
Live Scoring/Video
Live scoring and video is available for all home men's tennis matches at the A.J. Pitts Tennis Centre via hailstate.com/livemt.
Last Time Out For MSU …
Mississippi State is coming off a 4-2 win against No. 21 Oklahoma at the USTA National Campus in Orlando, Florida, the final site of the 2019 NCAA Men's and Women's Tennis Championships. MSU earned a quick 1-0 lead, with the Bulldog tandem of Florian Broska and Gregor Ramskogler clinching the point with a 6-3 victory on court 3. In singles, the Maroon and White held off a fierce comeback by the Sooners, with Ramskogler battling back from a set down to win and give MSU the 3-2 lead before Nuno Borges notched a dramatic three-set triumph in tiebreak fashion to move State past OU.
Next Up For MSU …
State is slated to host Kentucky at 1 p.m. CT on Sunday to close out its brief home stint to open SEC play. Admission to the match is free with free "Game. Set. Match." T-shirts to be given away.
For more information on the Mississippi State men's tennis program, follow "HailStateMT" on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
STARKVILLE – Riding a two-match win streak to end a three-week road swing, the No. 8 Mississippi State men's tennis team is set to open the always-challenging SEC slate, welcoming No. 27 Vanderbilt at 3 p.m. Friday to the A.J. Pitts Tennis Centre.
The Bulldogs (8-2) face the Commodores (10-2) with hopes of extending their current 19-match winning streak at Pitts, with nine of those victories coming in conference play. State is coming off a big 4-2 win over No. 21 Oklahoma in a neutral site affair in Orlando, Florida. That win came on the heels of a 4-2 win over No. 11 Notre Dame at the ITA National Team Indoor Championship in Chicago.
MSU In The Oracle ITA Rankings …
The Bulldogs are currently ranked eighth nationally, marking the 16th straight edition of the rankings in which MSU has appeared in the top 25 and its 12th appearance in a row in the top 10. In the ITA national singles rankings, two-time All-American Nuno Borges leads three State players at No. 3 in the nation, while Giovanni Oradini and Niclas Braun are ranked 80th and 82nd, respectively. State boasts a pair of ranked doubles tandems in sixth-ranked Braun and Giovanni Oradini and No. 11 Borges and Strahinja Rakic.
Know The Foe: Vanderbilt
Vanderbilt enters Friday's match having won seven matches in a row and 10 of 12 to open the season, most recently taking a 6-1 victory over North Florida before defeating Lipscomb 4-0 in a doubleheader on Feb. 22. The Bulldogs and Commdores share one common opponent – Notre Dame - to whom the Commodores dropped a 4-0 decision on Jan. 26 before State took down the Fighting Irish at the ITA National Indoors on Feb. 17.
The Commodores have one ranked doubles tandem in No. 52 Cameron Klinger and Billy Rowe. Last season, State downed VU in Starkville 4-2 behind Florian Broska's three-set, match-clinching victory on court 5.
Need To Know …
- Mississippi State is playing its 95th season of men's tennis, with Matt Roberts in his fifth season at the helm.
- MSU's No. 8 national ranking marks the 16th straight week the Bulldogs appeared in the top 25 of the Oracle ITA Rankings and its 12th straight appearance in the top 10.
- State is riding a 19-match home winning streak, with nine of those wins coming in SEC play.
- The Bulldogs hold a 40-14 series lead against Vanderbilt since 1969, winning three meetings in a row and seven of the last 10.
- In SEC openers, MSU has won two straight and seven of its last eight. The Bulldogs have won five straight SEC home openers and seven of their last eight.
- Nuno Borges is currently fourth all-time at MSU in career singles wins (99) and in total dual match wins (108), while standing third in dual match singles triumphs (64).
- Borges and Strahinja Rakic are second all-time in career wins by a doubles pair (44), while Niclas Braun and Giovanni Oradini are tied for sixth (36).
- Niclas Braun is currently tied for sixth in career doubles wins (78) and seventh in dual match doubles wins (48) at MSU.
Promotions
- Friday French Fries: FREE Cheese Fries!
- Up to 275 Hail State Rewards Points
- FREE Admission
- FREE Match Programs
Live Scoring/Video
Live scoring and video is available for all home men's tennis matches at the A.J. Pitts Tennis Centre via hailstate.com/livemt.
Last Time Out For MSU …
Mississippi State is coming off a 4-2 win against No. 21 Oklahoma at the USTA National Campus in Orlando, Florida, the final site of the 2019 NCAA Men's and Women's Tennis Championships. MSU earned a quick 1-0 lead, with the Bulldog tandem of Florian Broska and Gregor Ramskogler clinching the point with a 6-3 victory on court 3. In singles, the Maroon and White held off a fierce comeback by the Sooners, with Ramskogler battling back from a set down to win and give MSU the 3-2 lead before Nuno Borges notched a dramatic three-set triumph in tiebreak fashion to move State past OU.
Next Up For MSU …
State is slated to host Kentucky at 1 p.m. CT on Sunday to close out its brief home stint to open SEC play. Admission to the match is free with free "Game. Set. Match." T-shirts to be given away.
For more information on the Mississippi State men's tennis program, follow "HailStateMT" on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
Players Mentioned
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