No. 12 MSU Travels To Vandy And Kentucky

Mississippi State men's tennis has been incredibly successful at home this season, picking up 13 of its 15 wins there including a 5-2 victory over then No. 2 South Carolina this past Sunday.

But before the 12^th-ranked Bulldogs are back in the friendly confines of home, they must face four consecutive SEC road tests over the next two weeks starting at No. 70 Vanderbilt on Friday at 4 p.m. MSU will then travel to sixth-ranked Kentucky on Sunday at noon CT.

Next week, the Bulldogs are bound to No. 20 Tennessee and No. 48 Alabama.

Heading into Friday's match at Vandy, State sits at a 15-3 overall and has a 3-2 record in conference play. All three of the Bulldogs' victories in SEC action have come against foes ranked in the top 20 at the time of the match.

During its win over the second-ranked Gamecocks, Mississippi State received five wins and four points from its freshmen class of Benito Sanchez Martinez, Petar Jovanovic and Michal Novansky. For their efforts, Sanchez Martinez and Jovanovic were selected as SEC Co-Freshmen of the Week.

Sanchez Martinez is currently on a team-best four-match winning streak in singles and is 14-4 in dual play this spring. Jovanovic is tied for the team lead in overall victories at 19-7 in singles and 14-8 in doubles.

Juniors Carles Hernandez and Nemanja Malesevic are ranked 108^th and 123^rd respectively in singles and are also ranked 44^th in doubles. Jovanovic and graduate Ewen Lumsden also entered the ITA rankings this week at No. 74 after posting a perfect 3-0 record together this spring.

MSU travels to Vanderbilt on Friday in the midst of a seven-match winning streak over the Commodores. The Bulldogs won 6-1 in Starkville last season and lead the all-time series 44-14, including a 17-9 edge in Nashville.

Vanderbilt is 6-10 overall and is off to a 1-4 start in SEC play. The Commodores split a home doubleheader last Saturday, falling 4-3 to Florida before winning against Butler by the same margin.

Vandy features the nation's 35^th-ranked doubles tandem of Jeremie Casabon and Siim Troost.

Kentucky will be the sixth top 20 opponent the Bulldogs have faced this spring and are currently 4-1 in those matches. The Wildcats head into the weekend with a 17-2 overall record, including a 5-1 mark in SEC play.

UK is riding a five-match winning streak and will host No. 33 Ole Miss on Friday prior to facing the Bulldogs.

MSU has won six of the last nine meetings against Kentucky but fell twice to the Wildcats in Starkville last season. UK claimed a 4-2 victory during 2022 ITA Kickoff weekend and won 6-1 during conference play.

The Wildcats hold three ranked spots in singles including No. 22 Liam Draxl, No. 27 Alafia Ayeni and No. 44 Joshua Lapadat.

Kentucky also features two ranked doubles team in No. 25 Alafia Ayeni and Taha Baadi as well as No. 38 Joshua Lapadat and JJ Mercer.

Malesevic was one-half of a doubles tandem that topped Lapadat and Mercer 6-4 last spring.

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

No. 12 MSU Travels To Vandy And Kentucky

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Players Mentioned

Carles Hernandez

Petar Jovanovic

Ewen Lumsden

Nemanja Malesevic

Michal Novansky

Benito Sanchez Martinez

Mississippi State University Athletics