No. 23 Bulldogs Set To Begin Homestand Friday Against No. 11 Texas A&M

Friday, March 5

Starkville

3:00 PM

Mississippi State

Texas A&M

Photo by: Mississippi State Athletics

No. 23 Bulldogs Set To Begin Homestand Friday Against No. 11 Texas A&M

March 04, 2021 | Men's Tennis

Live Video/Stats Match Day Program

By: Graham Murphree, Graduate Assistant/Communications

STARKVILLE – After a weekend on the road, the 22nd-ranked Mississippi State men's tennis returns home to begin a five-match homestead this weekend, starting with No. 11 Texas A&M Friday afternoon. Match time between the Bulldogs (9-3, 0-2 SEC) and Aggies (8-2, 3-1 SEC) is slated for 3 p.m. at MSU's A.J. Pitts Tennis Centre.

State looks to keep its 16-match win streak in SEC home matches intact. MSU has not dropped an SEC home affair since the 2017 campaign.

2021 MSU Tennis COVID/Attendance Protocols
In conjunction with current COVID protocols established by the most recent Governor's Executive Order, fans may attend Friday's match at the A.J. Pitts Tennis Centre, with seating allowed in designated areas only. Continuing MSU and SEC COVID protocols, face coverings over the nose and mouth shall be required as a condition of all guest during ingress, egress, and movement throughout the stadium, as well as any time guests are unable to maintain the recommended physical distance from others who are not in their same household or when actively eating or drinking. For all COVID/attendance protocols for 2021 MSU Tennis home matches, please visit www.HailState.com/gameday.

Live Video/Stats
Fans can follow home men's tennis action live all season long at HailState.com/livemt.

MSU In The Oracle ITA Rankings…
The Bulldogs are currently ranked 23rd nationally as a team by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association in this week's latest poll (March 3). In the ITA national singles rankings, State is led by senior and two-time All-American Giovanni Oradini at No. 36 in the country. Following right behind is veteran Florian Broska at No. 87 nationally in singles. In doubles, the Bulldogs have two duos currently ranked with Broska and freshman Nicolas Ocana earning the nation's No. 28 spot. Rounding out the rankings is the duo of Alberto Colas and Gregor Ramskogler, coming in at 47^th nationally.

Know The Foe: Texas A&M
No. 11 Texas A&M will enter Friday's match with an 8-2 mark after sweeping UTRGV at home this past Sunday. In SEC play, the Aggies are 3-1, with their last SEC battle coming at home against then-No. 11 Florida, where A&M fell in close 5-2 contest to the Gators. Texas A&M's only two setbacks this season have come to current Top 10 teams – No. 2 Baylor and No. 10 Florida.
The Aggies have four players currently in the ITA singles rankings, led by fourth-ranked Valentin Vacherot, who is 4-1 at the No. 1 position. Next up is 13th-ranked Hady Habib who is 2-0 at the No. 1 position and 6-1 at No. 2 this season. Following him is 33^rd-ranked Carlos Aguilar coming in at 4-4 at the No. 3 position. Rounding out A&M's singles rankings is 116^th-ranked Noah Schachter who is 4-3 at No. 4. In doubles, the Aggies' lone ranked tandem is Aguilar and Bjorn Thomson, who are 48^th in the country and sit 5-2 at the No. 1 position this spring.
Texas A&M currently holds a 8-6 all-time record against MSU in the series that dates back to 1998. The Bulldogs have claimed the last two meetings with the Aggies, with the most recent being a 6-1 victory in 2019 in Bryan-College Station. The teams have not met in Starkville since the 2017 campaign.

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 9-3 overall, 0-2 SEC, after dropping road matches at then-No. 3 Tennessee and No. 12 Georgia this past weekend.
State's three losses this season have all come to current Top 15 teams – No. 3 Tennessee, No. 5 TCU and No. 14 Georgia.
MSU is currently ranked 23rd nationally as a team by the ITA in this week's poll.
Under head coach Matt Roberts, MSU is 124-42 overall in his seven seasons at the helm of the Bulldogs.
Roberts is 71-11 at home, 8-1 in 2021.
MSU has won 16 consecutive SEC home matches, dating back to the 2017 campaign.
Alberto Colas and Nemanja Malesevic lead the Maroon and White in total victories thus far on the season (each with 24).
Florian Broska and Colas lead the team in total dual match wins this year (each with 15).

Last Time Out…
The Bulldogs closed out last weekend's play with a hard-fought battle at No. 12 Georgia, falling 5-2. After UGA took the doubles point with a tiebreak win at No. 2, the homestanding Bulldogs came out swinging to claim the first set on five of the six courts to keep its momentum. Court 6 would finish first with State's Ramskogler leveling the score at 1-1 with a dominant 6-2, 6-1 victory over Georgia's Britton Johnston. After Georgia grabbed a 3-1 lead, State would fight to the end and nearly rally for the comeback, but would only be able to claim one more match - the MSU true freshman Nemanja Malesevic would come back from a set down, and 4-2 in the third, to take down UGA's Croyder in 3-6, 6-1, 7-5 fashion at the No. 3 spot.

Next Up For MSU…
Following Friday's affair with A&M, the Bulldogs will immediately get back on the court for another battle at home. On Sunday, March 7, State will welcome No. 38 LSU to Starkville at 1 p.m. CT in another SEC showdown.

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