Mississippi State
Middle Tennessee
No. 22 MSU Set For First Road Test
February 01, 2024 | Men's Tennis
MURFREESBORO, Tenn., - Mississippi State men's tennis is traveling for the first time this season with the 22nd-ranked Bulldogs bound for another battle with Middle Tennessee on Friday at 5 p.m.
Mississippi State met the Blue Raiders at home twice last season, including a clash in the second round of the NCAA Championships that catapulted the Bulldogs into the Round of 16. MSU claimed the first meeting 5-2 inside the Rula Tennis Pavilion in 2023 and prevailed 4-2 in the championship of the Starkville Regional last May.
The Bulldogs lead the overall series against MTSU 21-2 and have won six straight. Friday's match marks only the third time the two teams have met in Murfreesboro. MSU won the first meeting 7-2 in 1969 but it was the Blue Raiders that came out on top the last time the two teams played there, winning 4-0 in 2007.
Both teams enter Friday's matchup at 4-2 on the young season. The Bulldogs are coming off back-to-back losses against VCU (4-3) and now No. 23 Florida State (4-1) during ITA Kickoff Weekend in Starkville. Middle Tennessee split its showing at ITA Kickoff Weekend with a 4-1 win over Cal before falling 4-0 to host and No. 8 Duke.
Mississippi State is led by 13th-ranked Petar Jovanovic at the top of its singles lineup sporting an impressive 15-7 record this season. Jovanovic also makes up half of the nation's No. 24 doubles tandem in the country alongside partner and fellow sophomore Benito Sanchez Martinez.
Senior Carles Hernandez comes into Friday's match riding a nine-match winning streak in singles for the Bulldogs that dates back to last spring.
The Blue Raiders feature three ranked competitors in their singles lineup in No. 25 Leo Raquin (Temple transfer), No. 47 Marcel Kamrowski and No. 105 Ondrej Horak. Sanchez Martinez defeated Kamrowski 6-4, 6-2 during the first meeting last year while Hernandez topped Horak 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(3) to clinch the Starkville Regional for MSU.
For more information on the Bulldog men's tennis program, visit HailState.com or search for "HailStateMT" on X, Instagram and Facebook.
