Mississippi State
VCU
No. 12 MSU Set To Host ITA Kickoff Weekend
January 26, 2024 | Men's Tennis
STARKVILLE – For the sixth time since 2013, Mississippi State men's tennis will play host to ITA Kickoff Weekend.
The 12th-ranked Bulldogs will welcome No. 25 Florida State, Arizona State and VCU to campus on Saturday and Sunday for a shot to advance to the ITA National Team Indoor Championship. MSU opens ITA Kickoff Weekend against VCU on Saturday at 10 a.m. while the Seminoles and Sun Devils follow suit at 1 p.m. inside the Rula Tennis Pavilion.
A consolation match will be held Sunday at 10 a.m. and the championship match will take place at 1 p.m. The winner from this weekend will be one of 16 teams to qualify for ITA National Indoors at Columbia University in New York City on Feb. 16-19.
"These are great matches for us to use to grow and develop," said head coach Matt Roberts. "It's great for us to get matches against top teams early to help our development early in the season. Also, if we can get through those, we can go to national indoors which would be the first time for Carles Hernandez and Nemanja Malesevic to do that."
MSU also played host for ITA Kickoff Weekend in 2013, 2014, 2019, 2020 and 2022 and advanced to the ITA National Team Indoor Championships on three occasions after hosting. In total, the Bulldogs have competed a dozen times at the ITA National Team Indoor Championships.
Mississippi State is off to a 4-0 start to the season having won back-to-back doubleheaders in each of the past two weeks. Last Friday, the Bulldogs beat then 20th-ranked FSU 6-1 before blanking Tennessee State 7-0. MSU has defeated its opponents 27-1 on the year.
The Bulldogs are led at the top of the lineup by Petar Jovanovic, who is the highest ranked player in the Southeastern Conference at No. 13 nationally. The 6-foot-4 native of Montenegro is also half of the nation's No. 24 doubles tandem alongside fellow sophomore Benito Sanchez Martinez.
Mississippi State is also paced by Hernandez, who enters the weekend riding an eight-match winning streak in singles that dates back to last spring.
The Bulldogs are 1-3 all-time against VCU with their lone 6-0 win coming in the quarterfinals of the 1995 Blue-Gray National Collegiate Classic in Montgomery, Alabama. The Rams have won three-straight in the series including 4-3 victory in the last meeting at the 2014 Blue-Gray National Collegiate Classic.
VCU lost its only match of the young season, falling 4-3 on the road at eight-ranked Duke last Saturday. The Rams have a couple of headliners among their singles lineup in No. 78 Mathis Bondaz and No. 90 Matisse Bobichon.
Florida State is 3-1 on the year and coming off a 4-3 victory at Alabama last Sunday. The Seminoles are led by 97th-ranked Jamie Connel in singles and No. 52 Loris Pourroy and Youcef Rihane in doubles. Dusan Milanovic defeated Connel 7-5, 7-5 last week while Hernandez and Milanovic topped Pourroy and Rihane 6-3.
Arizona State has started off its campaign at 2-1 following a 4-3 home loss to now No. 24 Baylor. The Sun Devils have the highest-ranked player in this year's ITA Kickoff Weekend in Starkville in No. 10 Murphy Cassone.
Following last Friday's win, MSU is now 12-8 all-time against Florida State, including a 3-1 mark in Starkville. Should the Bulldogs meet Arizona State on Sunday, it would be the first time Mississippi State has squared off with the Sun Devils on the court.
For more information on the Bulldog men's tennis program, visit HailState.com or search for "HailStateMT" on X, Instagram and Facebook.
Players Mentioned
