State Set To Host ITA Kickoff Weekend
June 15, 2023 | Men's Tennis
STARKVILLE – The first piece of the upcoming Mississippi State men's tennis schedule fell into place on Thursday as the Bulldogs are set to host ITA Kickoff Weekend on Jan. 27-28, 2024.
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It is the second time in three years that Mississippi State is one of the 15 host sites of ITA Kickoff weekend. Joining the Bulldogs inside the Rula Tennis Pavilion will be second-seeded Florida State, No. 3 seed Arizona State and fourth-seeded VCU.
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MSU will meet the Rams while the Seminoles and Sun Devils do battle in the opening round on Jan. 27. A consolation match will be held for the losing teams the next day followed by a championship final for the winners to advance to the ITA National Team Indoor Championships held in New York at Columbia from Feb. 16-19.
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It will be the first time the Bulldogs have played VCU since 2014 and are 1-3 all-time against the Rams with the lone win coming in 1995.
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Mississippi State is 11-8 all-time against Florida State having defeated the then 15th-rankend Seminoles 4-3 in Tallahassee this past season. Should the Bulldogs square off against Arizona State, it would be the first meeting between the two programs in men's tennis.
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Head coach Matt Roberts will try to take MSU back to the ITA National Team Indoor Championships for the first time since 2019. The Bulldogs return five members of last year's squad that reached the Round of 16 at the NCAA Championships including Nemanja Malesevic and Carles Hernandez, who finished the year ranked in both singles and doubles.
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For more information on the Bulldog men's tennis program, visit HailState.com or search for "HailStateMT" on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
