The SEC's Bulldogs will do battle on Sunday at the A.J. Pitts Tennis Centre, as No. 8 takes on No. 22 Georgia.
Photo by: Trevor Birchett/MSU Athletics
No. 8 MSU Set For Top-25 Battle Of The Bulldogs Versus No. 22 Georgia
March 23, 2019 | Men's Tennis
by Caleb Garner, Graduate Assistant/Communications
STARKVILLE – Fresh off an exciting 4-3 victory on Friday, the No. 8 Mississippi State men's tennis team is set for a top-25 battle of the Southeastern Conference's Bulldogs, facing No. 22 Georgia at 1 p.m. Sunday.
The Bulldogs (14-3, 6-1 SEC) are riding the momentum of a 23-match home winning streak into Sunday's contest against the Athens-based Bulldogs (7-7, 3-3), with 13 of those victories coming in conference action. Admission to the match is free.
MSU In The Oracle ITA Rankings …
The Bulldogs are currently ranked eighth nationally, marking the 19th straight edition of the rankings in which MSU has appeared in the top 25 and its 15th 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 94thnationally. 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: Georgia
Georgia enters Sunday's match having lost four of its last six matches, including a 4-3 decision at Ole Miss on Friday. In singles, three Bulldogs are ranked, led by Jan Zielinski at No. 13. No. 21 Emil Reinberg and No. 78 Philip Henning round out UGA's ranked singles trio.
In doubles, Zielinski teams up with Robert Loeb to form the nation's 47th-ranked duo.
Need To Know …
Promotions …
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 Friday, the Bulldogs needed some third-set magic from senior Niclas Braun to take down No. 19 Tennessee. After taking doubles and mounting to a 3-0 lead with singles wins on courts 1 and 5, the Volunteers rattled off three straight singles triumphs to set up an exciting finish on court 3. Down a break at 4-2, Braun won 14 points in a row and 16 of the final 18 to best UT's Scott Jones, breaking at 30-40 to clinch another MSU victory – his fifth in a row.
Next Up For MSU …
The Bulldogs return to the road to face No. 25 Arkansas at 1 p.m. on Saturday, March 30, in Fayetteville.
For more information on the Mississippi State men's tennis program, follow "HailStateMT" on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
STARKVILLE – Fresh off an exciting 4-3 victory on Friday, the No. 8 Mississippi State men's tennis team is set for a top-25 battle of the Southeastern Conference's Bulldogs, facing No. 22 Georgia at 1 p.m. Sunday.
The Bulldogs (14-3, 6-1 SEC) are riding the momentum of a 23-match home winning streak into Sunday's contest against the Athens-based Bulldogs (7-7, 3-3), with 13 of those victories coming in conference action. Admission to the match is free.
MSU In The Oracle ITA Rankings …
The Bulldogs are currently ranked eighth nationally, marking the 19th straight edition of the rankings in which MSU has appeared in the top 25 and its 15th 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 94thnationally. 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: Georgia
Georgia enters Sunday's match having lost four of its last six matches, including a 4-3 decision at Ole Miss on Friday. In singles, three Bulldogs are ranked, led by Jan Zielinski at No. 13. No. 21 Emil Reinberg and No. 78 Philip Henning round out UGA's ranked singles trio.
In doubles, Zielinski teams up with Robert Loeb to form the nation's 47th-ranked duo.
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 19th straight week the Bulldogs appeared in the top 25 of the Oracle ITA Rankings and its 15th straight appearance in the top 10.
- At home under Roberts, the Bulldogs are 51-6 overall.
- Roberts ranks third all-time in coaching victories at MSU (96).
- State is riding a 23-match home winning streak, with 13 of those wins coming in SEC play.
- The Bulldogs have won the doubles point in 27 of their last 28 matches, including eight in a row.
- Georgia owns a 56-9 lead in the series since 1969.
- Nuno Borges is currently third all-time at MSU in career singles wins (106) and second in total dual match wins (120), while taking sole possession of first place in dual match singles triumphs (71) and tying for sixth in total victories (167).
- Borges has won 16 straight matches and is 15-0 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 tied for third with 41 wins.
- Braun is currently second in career doubles wins (83) and fourth in dual match doubles wins (53) at MSU.
- Trevor Foshey has won four of his last five singles matches.
Promotions …
- FREE crawfish
- 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 Friday, the Bulldogs needed some third-set magic from senior Niclas Braun to take down No. 19 Tennessee. After taking doubles and mounting to a 3-0 lead with singles wins on courts 1 and 5, the Volunteers rattled off three straight singles triumphs to set up an exciting finish on court 3. Down a break at 4-2, Braun won 14 points in a row and 16 of the final 18 to best UT's Scott Jones, breaking at 30-40 to clinch another MSU victory – his fifth in a row.
Next Up For MSU …
The Bulldogs return to the road to face No. 25 Arkansas at 1 p.m. on Saturday, March 30, in Fayetteville.
For more information on the Mississippi State men's tennis program, follow "HailStateMT" on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
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