No. 16 Men’s Tennis Set For NCAA Sweet 16 Battle With No. 8 Texas A&M Monday Night

Monday, May 17

Orlando, Fla. (USTA National Campus)

6:00 PM

Mississippi State

Texas A&M

No. 16 Men’s Tennis Set For NCAA Sweet 16 Battle With No. 8 Texas A&M Monday Night

May 16, 2021 | Men's Tennis

2021 NCAA Division I Tennis Championship HQ 2021 NCAA Division I Men’s Tennis Bracket Live Video - MSU vs. Texas A&M (via free TennisONE app)Live Stats - MSU vs. Texas A&M MSU Men’s Tennis Postseason Supplement

By: Graham Murphree, Graduate Assistant/Communications

ORLANDO, Florida – With their minds locked in, hearts full, and hungry for battle, the 16^th-ranked Mississippi State men's team (18-9) is set to face a familiar foe in No. 8 Texas A&M (18-8) in the 2021 NCAA Team Championship Round of 16. The Bulldogs will battle the Aggies at the USTA National Campus here Monday evening at 7 p.m. ET.

Live Video Streaming - TennisONE App
Tennis ONE is your home for FREE livestream coverage of the 2021 NCAA Division I Championships from May 16-May 28. Both the team and individual tournaments will be housed in the app, giving fans the opportunity to join the action from anywhere in the world. Any matches not being televised by Tennis Channel/TC Plus will be available on the TennisONE app.

NOTE: In addition to the TennisONE app, Tennis Channel will provide live television coverage of selected NCAA Team Championship matches May 19-22 (quarterfinal thru final rounds).

Live Statistics
Fans can also follow Monday night's affair, and all matches throughout the tournament, through live statistics.

How They Got Here
Mississippi State punched its ticket to the Round of 16 by claiming victories in the first two rounds of the tournament at the same location where this week's national championship will ultimately be determined – the USTA National Campus. In an incredible weekend of tennis, 16th-ranked State ousted No. 39 Miami (4-1) and then upset No. 9 seed/regional host UCF (4-2) on May 8-9 in Orlando to pave the way to the program's 15th NCAA Championship Round of 16 berth.

Texas A&M earned its way to Orlando with a pair of triumphs at home, the Aggies hosting the first two rounds as a national seed. In the first round, No. 8 TAMU ousted New Mexico 4-1 and followed with a victory over No. 27 Oklahoma by the same score.

State and A&M are two of seven Southeastern Conference men's tennis teams competing in Monday's NCAA Round of 16 in Orlando, with the Bulldog-Aggie clash the only one featuring two of the league's teams squaring off against each other.

MSU In The Oracle ITA Rankings
The Bulldogs are currently ranked 16th nationally as a team by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association in the latest poll (May 5). In the ITA national singles rankings, State is led by three-time All-American Giovanni Oradini at No. 20 in the country. Up next is veteran Second Team All-SEC selection Florian Broska at No. 48 nationally. Following right behind, SEC All-Freshman honoree Nemanja Malesevic leads the next generation of Bulldogs at No. 53 in the country. After him is Davide Tortora checking in at No. 74 and rounding out the singles rankings for State is Alberto Colas at No. 121. In doubles, the Bulldogs' top duo of Broska and Gregor Ramskogler checks in as the nation's 15^th-ranked tandem, the highest of the duo's career.

Know The Foe: Texas A&M
Texas A&M, ranked 8^th nationally as a team (also the tournament's No. 8 seed), enters Monday's match with an 18-8 ledger this season. The Aggies are led by Valentin Vacherot, checking in at No. 5 in the nation in singles. Right behind him in the lineup is No. 3-ranked Hady Habib. Wrapping up the Aggies' ranked singles players is Juan Carlos Aguilar (30^th) and Noah Schachter (100^th). In doubles, all three A&M tandems are currently ranked. Aguilar pairs up with Bjorn Thomson to form the nation's No. 8 duo. Rollings and Vacherot are the country's 65^th-ranked pair. Lastly, Habib and Schachter are 86^th.

MSU-Texas A&M: The Series
State and A&M have met 15 times in total, with the Aggies holding a 9-6 advantage in the series. However, the Bulldogs have claimed four of the last six contests between the teams. Three of the matches in the series have come in neutral site affairs, with the Bulldogs having claimed all three, the last coming three years ago when MSU edged TAMU 4-3 to claim the 2018 SEC Championship crown. The teams have never met in the NCAA Championship.

The MSU-Texas A&M clash will be the second between the teams this season, the Aggies notching a 6-1 decision over the Bulldogs in Starkville on March 5 during the regular season. The match featured three three-set singles affairs after a close doubles point.

Need To Know

Mississippi State is playing its 98^th season of men's tennis, with Matt Roberts in his seventh season at the helm.
The Bulldogs sit at 18-9 overall.
MSU is currently ranked 16^th nationally as a team by the ITA in the latest poll (May 5) and have been as high as 11^th this in 2021.
The Bulldogs are making their 29^th appearance in the NCAA Championship (25^th since the team format was adopted in 1977), their 10^th in a row.
MSU is now 31-24 in the NCAA Team Championship in its 25 (1991-2005, 2011-19, 2021) all-time appearances. State also made four trips to the NCAAs under legendary head coach Tom Sawyer when it was a flighted individual draw. MSU finished 8th in 1965, t3rd in both 1966 and 1967, and t13th in 1968.
The Bulldogs are into the NCAA Round of 16 for the 15th time in its 25 all-time appearances in the NCAA Team Championship, including four of the last five.
The Bulldogs are one of only 16 teams in the nation to have been selected for the NCAA Team Championship field in at least 25 of the last 30 seasons (1991-2021...no tourney in 2020 due to COVID-19). Six of those teams are SEC members.
Under Roberts in the NCAA Championship, the Bulldogs are now 11-5 in six trips (includes 2021), including three Round of 16 showings (2016, 2019, 2021) and one quarterfinal (2018).
True freshman Nemanja Malesevic leads the Maroon and White in overall wins (37) in 2020-21.
Veteran Florian Broska leads the team in overall dual match wins (30) this spring.
Davide Tortora leads the Bulldogs with the highest win percentage in singles dual matches (7-3, .700).
True freshman Carles Hernandez sits at 16-8 in singles this season and clinched a team-best eight wins this season, most recently MSU NCAA 1^st & 2^nd Round victories over No. 39 Miami and No. 10 UCF.

Next Up
The winner of Monday night's Bulldog-Aggie NCAA Round of 16 showdown will advance to Thursday's national quarterfinals (time TBA) where they will take on the winner between top-seeded Florida and No. 16 seed Illinois. Those squads will meet in the other 7 p.m. ET battle on Monday night at the USTA National Campus.

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