No. 16 Bulldogs Earn 10th-Straight NCAA Bid; Face Miami In First Round Saturday In Orlando
May 03, 2021 | Men's Tennis
STARKVILLE – For the 10th consecutive year in which the tournament has been held, the Mississippi State men's tennis team has earned a bid to the 2021 NCAA Men's Tennis Championship, the NCAA announced Monday evening. The Bulldogs are headed to Orlando, Florida, and will face Miami in the first round this Saturday, May 8, at 10 a.m. CT.
On Saturday, the first match will showcase 16th-ranked Mississippi State and No. 41 Miami at 10 a.m. CT. Following the Bulldog-Hurricane battle, ninth-ranked host UCF (also the No. 9 national seed) will battle Monmouth in the other first-round matchup at 1 p.m. CT. The winners of the two Saturday matches will then compete on Sunday at 11 a.m. CT for the right to advance to the NCAA Round of 16, which will also be held in Orlando on May 17.
"We are really excited for the tournament", MSU head coach Matt Roberts said. "It has been a crazy year, and we got tougher as the year went on. We overcame a lot of hurdles this season, and we are just happy to compete in the tournament and get to play in Orlando. It is a beautiful complex there, with it being the headquarters of the USTA. We played NCAAs there two years ago, so we know the facility. I think the NCAA did a great job of putting the draw together. They had to keep a lot of people happy, and I thought the draw was well-done and well-executed by them. We are looking forward to a good week."
Monday's selection marks MSU men's tennis' 29th appearance in the NCAA Championship all-time, the 25th under the current dual match format which was adopted in 1977. MSU hopes to earn its way to the Round of 16 - a feat the program has accomplished 14 times in its impressive history - for the fourth time in the last five NCAA tournaments.
The Southeastern Conference had 11 of its 13 men's teams selected for this year's NCAA field.
State owns a 16-9 overall ledger this season, with all nine of its setbacks coming against current Top 25 programs, six of them in the Top 10. The Bulldogs opened the season 9-1. Highlights this year included 5-2 wins at home and on the road over now-No. 21 Tulane, home victories over NCAA-bound teams Middle Tennessee and Memphis, and a thrilling 4-3 upset of No. 12 South Carolina in Starkville in March. Most recently, the Bulldogs defeated No. 18 Alabama on Apr. 20 to advance to the quarterfinals of the 2021 SEC Championship, before falling there to the then-No. 1 Florida in a very tight 4-2 decision.
State's first round foe, Miami, heads to Orlando with an 8-10 ledger, 4-6 in the ACC. The Hurricanes are led by 39th-ranked Adria Soriano Barera in the national singles rankings. In doubles, the Hurricanes are paced by the country's 31st-ranked duo of Franco Auone and Benjamin Hannestad. The Bulldogs currently hold a 9-4 record against the Hurricanes (since 1969). The Maroon and White has claimed the last four meetings between the two programs, with the last being a 4-2 Bulldog victory in Fort Myers, Fla., on Feb. 2, 2020.
Weekend host and No. 9 national seed UCF is coming off a 4-0 win against USF to claim the team's first-ever American Conference title. UCF has registered a very impressive 21-3 ledger this season, as well as a 7-0 conference mark. Monmouth claimed its fifth-straight MAAC Championship with a 4-2 title match victory over Fairfield on April 25. Monmouth is 14-2 overall in 2021 and went 5-0 in its league.
Selections for the NCAA Singles and Doubles Championships will be announced Tuesday. Multiple Bulldogs hope to earn bids to the draws, including senior All-American Giovanni Oradini (No. 19 nationally) and fellow senior Florian Broska (No. 48 nationally), with the potential of the Bulldog true freshman Nemanja Malesevic (No. 54 nationally) possibly making the field as well. The 15th-ranked State doubles tandem of Broska and Gregor Ramskogler is expected to receive an at-large bid as well.
No NCAA Team or Individual Tennis Championships were held in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
MSU Men's Tennis
2021 NCAA Team Championship – 1st/2nd Rounds
May 8-9 – Orlando, FL – USTA National Campus
Schedule
Saturday, May 8
Match #1 – #2 Mississippi State vs. #3 Miami – 10 a.m. CT
Match #2 – #1 UCF vs. #4 Monmouth – 1 p.m. CT
Sunday, May 9
Match #3 – Match #1 winner vs. Match #2 winner – 11 a.m. CT
Admission
Fans interested in attending this weekend's matches in Orlando should consult UCF's men's tennis headquarters for further info on ticketing and attendance protocols.
For more information on the Mississippi State men's tennis program, follow "HailStateMT" on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
Players Mentioned
