No. 41 MSU Set For SEC Road Opener At No. 19 Tennessee Friday

Friday, March 6

Knoxville, Tenn.

5:00 PM

Mississippi State

Tennessee

Photo by: Mississippi State Athletics

No. 41 MSU Set For SEC Road Opener At No. 19 Tennessee Friday

March 05, 2020 | Men's Tennis

Live Video Live Stats

by Graham Murphree, Student Assistant/Communications

STARKVILLE – After a gutsy battle by the 41^st-ranked Mississippi State men's tennis team to defeat the Arkansas Razorbacks to open SEC play last Friday, the Bulldogs take to the road this weekend and will face No. 19 Tennessee on Friday.

The Bulldogs (9-4, 1-0 SEC) will face the Volunteers (11-2, 0-1) at 5:00 p.m. CT Friday afternoon at UT's Goodfriend Tennis Center.

Live Video/Scoring
Live video and live scoring will be available for MSU's match at Tennessee.

MSU In The Oracle ITA National Rankings…
The Bulldogs are currently ranked 41^st nationally as a team by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association in this week's latest poll. In the ITA national singles rankings, two-time All-American senior Giovanni Oradini leads the Bulldogs at No. 43 in the country. Junior Florian Broska comes in at No. 89 in the newest rankings this past week. State's top pair of Broska and Nicolas Ocana are among the nation's top 50 in doubles at No. 43 this week. Having produced an 8-1 record to begin spring play, MSU's No. 3 pair or Alberto Colas and Gregor Ramskogler received their first ranking ever this week, coming in at No. 75.

Know The Foe: Tennessee
Tennessee enters Friday's match with a 11-2 record, 0-1 in the SEC, after dropping a tough 4-2 decision at Georgia to begin their SEC slate Friday. The Volunteers are currently ranked No. 19 in the nation. UT boasts one player in the singles rankings with Adam Walton at No. 31. Walton leads the Volunteers at the No. 1 position with a 10-1 dual match record thus far this season. In doubles, Andrew Rogers teams up with Giles Hussey to form the nation's 50^th-ranked pair. The duo holds a 2-2 dual match record at the No. 1 position.

Need To Know …

Mississippi State is in its 97th season of men's tennis, with Matt Roberts in his sixth season at the helm.
MSU is currently ranked 41^st nationally as a team by the ITA.
UT leads the series with MSU 34-22 since 1971. However, State has won six straight, and nine of the last 12, in the series.
The last meeting between the teams came in the 2019 SEC Championship title match in Gainesville, Florida, with the Bulldogs winning 4-1 to claim their second consecutive SEC Tournament crown.
Roberts ranks third all-time in coaching victories at MSU (115) and is 56-9 in his last three years at the helm.
Sophomore Gregor Ramskogler is 17-5 in singles since mid-October. He and junior Florian Broska lead the team with 8-3 dual match records.
Broska currently holds the highest overall singles winning percentage on the team (72.4%). He is 17-4 in singles since mid-October.
True freshman Alberto Colas is 5-3 in singles since joining the team in January. He clinched the Bulldogs' win over Arkansas this past Friday.
State's No. 3 doubles pair of Colas and Gregor Ramskogler is on a five-match win streak while holding State's highest win percentage (87.5%) on the doubles side with a 7-1 record in dual matches.

Next Up For MSU …
Following Friday's match, a battle against the No. 10 team in the nation will be next on the docket for MSU, as the Bulldogs taken on perennial SEC power No. 10 Georgia in Athens, Georgia, Sunday at 12:00 p.m. CT. Georgia upset then-No. 10 Tennessee and No. 3 Ohio State this past weekend to jump 25 spots to No. 10 this week. State has taken two of the last three meetings with UGA, including the last meeting in Athens in 2018.

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

--HailState.com--