No. 11 MSU Men’s Tennis Set For Rivalry Showdown Sunday At No. 9 Ole Miss

Sunday, March 28

Oxford, Miss.

1:00 PM

Mississippi State

Ole Miss

Photo by: Mississippi State Athletics

No. 11 MSU Men’s Tennis Set For Rivalry Showdown Sunday At No. 9 Ole Miss

March 27, 2021 | Men's Tennis

Live Video (Outdoors)Live Stats

By: Graham Murphree, Graduate Assistant/Communications

STARKVILLE – Coming off of their fifth 7-0 sweep of the season, the No. 11 Mississippi State men's tennis is set for big battle No. 9 rival Ole Miss Sunday in Oxford. Match time between the Bulldogs (12-5, 2-4 SEC) and Rebels (7-7, 4-3 SEC) is slated for 1 p.m. at Ole Miss' Palmer/Salloum Tennis Center.

Live Video/Stats
Live video (only if outdoors) and live scoring and will be available the match, courtesy of Ole Miss.

MSU In The Oracle ITA Rankings…
The Bulldogs are currently ranked 11th nationally (up nine spots) as a team by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association in this week's latest poll (March 24). In the ITA national singles rankings, State is led by veteran Florian Broska at No. 43 in the country. Following right behind is senior and two-time All-American Giovanni Oradini at No. 47 nationally in singles. Up next, true freshman Nemanja Malesevic leads the next generation of Bulldogs at No. 56 in the country. Rounding at the rankings is Davide Tortora, who comes in at No. 62 in the country. In doubles, the Bulldogs' top duo of Broska and Gregor Ramskogler check in as the nation's 37^th-ranked tandem.

Know The Foe: Ole Miss
Ole Miss will enter Sunday's match with a 7-7 overall mark, while holding a 4-3 league record. The Rebels have won six of their last nine outings, most recently downing No. 24 Oklahoma State 4-3 in Stillwater, Okla., on Mar. 21. All but one of UM's losses this season have come to current Top 10 teams.

Ole Miss is currently ranked No. 9 in the nation as a team with three players in the ITA singles rankings and one doubles duo in the ITA doubles rankings. In singles, UM is led by Finn Reynolds at No. 12 in the country. Next up, as the nation's No. 36 player, is Nikola Slavic. Rounding out the singles rankings is Tim Sandkaulen at No. 65. Ole Miss currently features the nation's No. 1-ranked doubles duo in Reynolds and Sandkaulen.

Ole Miss currently holds a 50-31 all-time record against MSU in the series (since 1969). However, the Bulldogs have taken five of the last seven meetings with the Rebels, including three straight contests. In the most recent clash, State posted a 6-1 victory over UM in Starkville on April 5, 2019.

Need To Know…

Mississippi State is playing its 98th season of men's tennis, with Matt Roberts in his seventh season at the helm.
The Bulldogs sit at 12-5 overall, 2-4 in the SEC.
MSU is currently ranked 11th nationally as a team by the ITA in this week's poll, up nine spots from the previous week.
This week's ranking marks the Bulldogs' first in the Top 15 this season.
State's five losses this season have all come to current Top 15 teams – No. 2 Florida, No. 3 Tennessee, No. 5 TCU, No. 8 Texas A&M and No. 13 Georgia.
Under head coach Matt Roberts, MSU is 127-44 overall in his seven seasons at the helm of the Bulldogs.
Roberts is 74-13 at home, 11-3 in 2021.
True freshman Nemanja Malesevic leads the Maroon and White in overall wins (28) in 2020-21.
Malesevic, Florian Broska, Alberto Colas and Gregor Ramskogler are all tied for MSU's lead in total dual match victories (18) thus far this spring.
True freshman Carles Hernandez sits at 11-5 in singles this season and has clinched two key MSU victories – 4-3 wins over No. 38 LSU and No. 14 South Carolina.

Last Time Out…
In their most recent outing this past weekend, the Bulldogs swept the Blazers of UAB 7-0 in their final non-conference affair of the regular season.

Next Up For MSU…
Following Sunday's affair with Ole Miss, the Bulldogs will next prepare to hit the road to face 32^nd-ranked Alabama next Friday, April 2, in Tuscaloosa. Match time is slated for 6 p.m.

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