MSU Tabbed Top Regional Team For The Second Year In A Row
June 07, 2024 | Men's Tennis
STARKVILLE – For the second consecutive season, Mississippi State was tabbed as the top men's tennis program in the ITA Southern Regional.
The ITA Southern Regional consists of colleges from Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi. Matt Roberts' Bulldogs were ranked ahead of fellow Southeastern Conference members Alabama (2), Auburn (3), LSU (4) and Ole Miss (5).
MSU finished the season ranked 13th nationally with a 19-8 overall record and advanced to the Round of 16 at the NCAA Tournament for the fifth time in the past six seasons.
In addition to the Bulldogs earning the No. 1 regional ranking as a team, the All-American doubles tandem of Petar Jovanovic and Benito Sanchez Martinez also earned the billing as the top doubles duo in the Southern Regional.
Jovanovic and Sanchez Martinez earned 24 victories together throughout the season, tying them with Kristian Broems and Per Nilsson (1994) and Matthieu Ballay and Mattias Karlsson (1996) for the fifth-most wins in a single season in school history.
The tandem of Carles Hernandez and Dusan Milanovic rounded out the top 10 of this year's regional rankings.
State also tied with Alabama with five players ranked among the top 20 singles competitors in the Southern Regional. Jovanovic ranked third in the region while Nemanja Malesevic finished fourth. Hernandez (12), Sanchez Martinez (17) and Milanovic (18) were also ranked among the top players in the region while the Bulldog signee – Mario Martinez Serrano – came in at No. 10 after finishing his sophomore season at Troy.
Malesevic wrapped his career tied for seventh with Laurent Miquelard (1992-95) with 106 total dual match victories while he and Hernandez each totaled 60 career dual match singles wins, the ninth-most in Mississippi State's annals.
For more information on the Bulldog men's tennis program, visit HailState.com or search for "HailStateMT" on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
Players Mentioned
