Bulldogs Repeat As ITA Kickoff Weekend Hosts
June 12, 2024 | Men's Tennis
STARKVILLE – Although there are still a few months to go before the calendar turns to 2025, the first pieces of Mississippi State's men's tennis schedule fell into place on Wednesday.
The Bulldogs are set to host ITA Kickoff Weekend for the third time in the last four years and will be welcoming N.C. State, LSU and Pepperdine to the Rula Tennis Pavilion on Jan. 25-26.
All four participants finished among the top 41 teams in the final ITA rankings this past season.
"We're excited to be able to host ITA Kickoff Weekend again this year," said head coach Matt Roberts. "It's a tremendous opportunity for our team to square off against some top-notch competition early in the season and also for our fans to see some of the premier teams in the nation compete on our courts. We're looking forward to this challenge and testing ourselves against other elite programs to help us continue preparing for conference play."
Top-seeded MSU will take on No. 4 seed Pepperdine in the opening round on Jan. 25 while No. 2 seed N.C. State meets No. 3 seed LSU. A consolation match will be held for the losing teams the following day along with a championship match to determine which program will advance to the ITA National Team Indoor Championships in Dallas and Waco, Texas in February.
It will mark the first time the Bulldogs have battled Pepperdine since 2003. Mississippi State holds a 3-2 edge in the overall series with all five previous meetings coming on neutral courts.
The Bulldogs are a perfect 2-0 against N.C. State having defeated the Wolfpack in the 2015 ITA Kickoff Weekend in Berkley, California and also won at home in 2017. MSU has come out on top in eight of the last nine matches against fellow SEC foe LSU but trails the Tigers 23-36-1 in the all-time series.
Roberts and the Bulldogs will try to return to the ITA National Team Indoor Championships for the first time since 2019. Mississippi State finished the 2024 campaign ranked 13th nationally, reached the Sweet 16 for the fifth time in the past six seasons and will return seven letterwinners, including All-Americans Petar Jovanovic and Benito Sanchez Martinez.
For more information on the Bulldog men's tennis program, visit HailState.com or search for "HailStateMT" on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
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