No. 8 Bulldogs Host No. 19 Tennessee Friday In Top-20 Showdown

by Caleb Garner, Graduate Assistant/Communications

STARKVILLE – Riding a three-match winning streak, the No. 8 Mississippi State men's tennis team is set for a key top-20 SEC match on Friday, taking on No. 19 Tennessee at 3 p.m. CT at the A.J. Pitts Tennis Centre.

The Bulldogs (13-3, 5-1 SEC) are putting a 22-match home winning streak on the line against the Volunteers (11-5, 2-3), with 12 of those victories coming in conference action. UT holds a 34-20 lead in the series since 1971, but MSU has been victorious in recent meetings, winning seven of the last 10 and four in a row. Admission to the match is free.

MSU In The Oracle ITA Rankings …
The Bulldogs are currently ranked eighth nationally, marking the 19^th straight edition of the rankings in which MSU has appeared in the top 25 and its 15^th 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. 2 in the nation (matching his career-best), while Giovanni Oradini comes in at 94^thnationally. State boasts a pair of ranked doubles tandems in fourth-ranked Niclas Braun and Oradini and No. 8 Borges and Strahinja Rakic. The Bulldogs are one of just two programs in the nation with more than one duo in the top 10.

Know The Foe: Tennessee
Tennessee enters Friday's match coming off a 5-2 loss at home to now-No. 4 Florida on March 17. The Volunteers are currently eighth in the league standings at 2-3 and have dropped three of their last four outings but all three of those setbacks have come to current top 10 teams. UT boasts a pair of nationally-ranked singles players in No. 66 Timo Stodder and No. 87 Adam Walton at Nos. 1 and 2 singles, respectively. Stodder reached the 2018 NCAA Singles quarterfinals, where he dropped a 7-6(4), 6-4 decision to MSU's Borges. Walton leads the Volunteers with an 11-2 dual match record.

In doubles, Stodder teams up with Preston Touliatos to form the nation's 31^st-ranked pair. The duo holds a 6-3 record in 2019 at the No. 1 doubles spot. Touliatos earned doubles All-American honors in 2018 alongside former Vol Luis Valero.

Need To Know …

Mississippi State is playing its 95^th season of men's tennis, with Matt Roberts in his fifth season at the helm.
MSU's No. 8 national ranking marks the 19^th straight week the Bulldogs appeared in the top 25 of the Oracle ITA Rankings and its 15^th straight appearance in the top 10.
At home under Roberts, the Bulldogs are 50-6 overall.
Roberts is tied for third all-time in career coaching wins at MSU (95).
State is riding a 22-match home winning streak, with 12 of those wins coming in SEC play.
The Bulldogs have won the doubles point in 26 of their last 27 matches, including seven in a row.
Tennessee holds a 34-20 lead in the series against MSU since 1971, but the Bulldogs have won seven of the last 10 meetings, including four in a row.
Nuno Borges is currently third all-time at MSU in career singles wins (105) and second in total dual match wins (119), while tying for first in dual match singles triumphs (70) and tying for seventh in total victories (166).
Borges has won 15 straight matches and is 14-0 in dual match singles play this spring.
Borges and Strahinja Rakic team up to form MSU's all-time winningest doubles pair (50), while Niclas Braun and Giovanni Oradini are fourth with 40 wins.
Braun is currently tied for second in career doubles wins (82) and tied for fourth in dual match doubles wins (52) at MSU.
Trevor Foshey has won three of his last four singles matches.

Promotions …

Friday French Fries: Cheese Fries
Free T-Shirts (while supplies last)
Tennis Ball Toss For A TV between doubles and singles
Up to 275 Hail State Rewards Points
Free match day guides
FREE Admission

Live Scoring/Video
Live video and scoring is available for all home Mississippi State men's tennis matches at hailstate.com/livemt.

Last Time Out For MSU…
On Saturday, the Bulldogs earned a dominant 4-0 sweep at Auburn. State started off by taking a tightly-contested doubles point with 7-5 wins on courts 3 and 1. The momentum carried over into singles, with MSU earning three straight-set triumphs to close out the sweep. Niclas Braun provided the clincher for the fourth MSU win in a row with a 6-3, 6-4 on court 4.

Next Up For MSU …
A top-25 battle of the SEC's Bulldogs is next on the docket for MSU, as perennial SEC power No. 22 Georgia rolls into town for a 1 p.m. CT match on Sunday. Admission is free to all regular season MSU tennis matches at the A.J. Pitts Tennis Centre.

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

No. 8 Bulldogs Host No. 19 Tennessee Friday In Top-20 Showdown

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Nuno Borges

Niclas Braun

Trevor Foshey

Giovanni Oradini

Strahinja Rakic

Mississippi State University Athletics

No. 8 Bulldogs Host No. 19 Tennessee Friday In Top-20 Showdown

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Nuno Borges

Niclas Braun

Trevor Foshey

Giovanni Oradini

Strahinja Rakic

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