Bulldogs Earn 11th Consecutive NCAA Championship Bid

STARKVILLE – Mississippi State men's tennis will be making its 30^th trip to the NCAA Championship appearance later this week.

The Bulldogs were selected as the No. 3 seed in the Cambridge Regional and will take on No. 2 seed Stanford on Friday at 10 a.m. CT on the campus of Harvard University.

"This group hasn't played Stanford before and hasn't had to venture up to the Northeast so it's going to be cool to head up to Harvard and play Stanford," said assistant coach Jake Jacoby. "That's what this time of year is all about. We play a tough schedule to get ready to play the best teams in the country, which are in the tournament."

The top-seeded Crimson will host Monmouth in the other first round match of the Cambridge Regional on Friday at 1 p.m. CT. The winners will meet Saturday at 1 p.m. CT for a shot to adavance ahead to the Round of 16.

The Bulldogs have made the NCAA Championship in each of head coach Matt Roberts eight seasons at the helm of the program and are making their 11^th consecutive appearance. State has made back-to-back trips to the Round of 16.

Last year, the Bulldogs beat Miami 4-1 and UCF 4-2 in the opening two rounds before bowing out in the Round of 16 in a loss to Texas A&M in Orlando, Florida.

Friday's match will mark the fourth meeting between Mississippi State and Stanford and the first since the 1998 NCAA Championship in Athens, Georgia. The Cardinal leads 3-0 all-time in the series.

It will be the Bulldogs' first trip to Cambridge since participating in the Harvard Kickoff Tournament in 2010.

"No one on our team has ever been to Harvard or played Stanford either so everything is going to be fresh, from the players that we're going to play against to the site," said graduate Florian Broska.

MSU has posted a 14-12 record this season and is currently ranked 40^th nationally. Stanford comes into the NCAA Championship ranked 16^th and is 17-5 overall.

The Bulldogs are a perfect 5-0 against Harvard and have never met Monmouth in a match. State defeated the Crimson 4-2 in their only meeting in Cambridge in 2010 and also won 4-1 during the 1996 NCAA Championship in Athens, Georgia.

For more information on the Bulldog men's tennis program, visit HailState.com or search for "HailStateMT" on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

Mississippi State University Athletics

Bulldogs Earn 11th Consecutive NCAA Championship Bid

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