Men's Tennis Reveals Spring Slate
November 23, 2022 | Men's Tennis
STARKVILLE – A string of 16 home matches await Mississippi State men's tennis this spring in the friendly confines of the A.J. Pitts Tennis Centre and the Rula Tennis Pavilion.
The Bulldogs have posted an 88-19 record at home during Matt Roberts' previous eight seasons as head coach, including a 12-6 mark last year. MSU also made its 11th consecutive appearance in the NCAA Championships in 2021-22.
"We feel fortunate to be able to compete in the best tennis conference in the nation," Roberts said. "The SEC provides so many high-level matches that allow us to grow and develop, which in turn will prepare us to make a run in the postseason. We have a lot of belief in this group, so we also scheduled a strong non-conference portion with multiple top 25 opponents. We want to give our team the best opportunities to develop their games and we feel this spring will push our players every week."
The Bulldogs return four letterwinners from last year's squad including the nation's No. 42 doubles tandem in Carles Hernandez and Nemanja Malesevic along with newcomer Petar Jovanovic, who is ranked 107th in singles.
State starts things off with four straight home matches this spring. The Bulldogs begin against East Tennessee State on January 14th followed by South Alabama on Jan. 16 and a doubleheader against Middle Tennessee State and Tennessee State on Jan. 22.
Mississippi State closes out the opening month of the season with a trip to Gainesville, Florida to compete in ITA Kickoff Weekend. The Bulldogs meet SMU on Jan. 27 and will play either host Florida or South Florida the following day.
Five more home matches highlight February for MSU. The Bulldogs take on Tulane on Feb. 3 prior to a twinbill against Presbyterian and Jackson State on Feb. 5. In what could be State's lone non-conference road match, it treks to Tallahassee to take on Florida State on Feb. 12.
The Bulldogs close out February with a home doubleheader against Tennessee Tech and UAB on the 25th.
Mississippi State begins Southeastern Conference play at home on March 2 against defending SEC regular season and tournament champion Florida. The Bulldogs follow up with a trip to Oxford to battle rival Ole Miss on March 4.
A four-match homestand against Auburn (March 9), Texas A&M (March 11), Belmont (March 11) and South Carolina (March 19) awaits the Bulldogs before hitting the road for four straight. MSU travels to Vanderbilt on March 24, Kentucky on March 26, Tennessee on March 31 and Alabama on April 2.
The Bulldogs close out their SEC home slate on April 7 versus LSU and April 9 against Arkansas. State's final regular season match will be in Athens on April 14 against Georgia.
Auburn serves as the host site for this year's SEC Championships scheduled from April 19-23.
"The Bulldog tennis fan base has been growing the past few years and we want to thank everyone for engaging in our match and program," Roberts said. "We look forward to seeing everyone out at Pitts and Rula in January."
For more information on the Bulldog men's tennis program, visit HailState.com or search for "HailStateMT" on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Â
