Friday, April 12
College Station, Texas
6:00 PM
Mississippi State
at
Texas A&M
A top-10 match awaits the No. 7 Bulldogs on Friday, as they take on No. 8 Texas A&M at 6 p.m. in College Station.
No. 7 Bulldogs Ready For Top-10 Battle At No. 8 Texas A&M
April 11, 2019 | Men's Tennis
by Caleb Garner, Graduate Assistant/Communications
STARKVILLE – Only two matches remain in the 2019 regular season for the No. 7 Mississippi State men's tennis squad, with the first coming in a crucial top-10 battle on Friday night at No. 8 Texas A&M.
The Bulldogs (17-3, 9-1 SEC) are riding a season-long seven-match winning streak into their showdown with the Aggies (19-5, 9-1). The teams are currently tied for second in the SEC standings in a race for two of the top three seeds in the 2019 SEC Championship, which begins Wednesday in Gainesville, Florida.
MSU In The Oracle ITA Rankings …
The Bulldogs are currently ranked seventh nationally, marking the 22nd straight edition of the rankings in which MSU has appeared in the top 25 and its 18th appearance in a row in the top 10. In the ITA national singles rankings, two-time All-American Nuno Borges leads three State players at No. 2 in the nation (matching his career-best), while Giovanni Oradini comes in at 70th nationally. State boasts a pair of ranked doubles tandems in third-ranked Nuno Borges and Strahinja Rakic and No. 15 Niclas Braun and Giovanni Oradini. The Bulldogs are one of just two programs in the nation with more than one duo in the top 15.
Know The Foe: Texas A&M
Texas A&M brings an impressive resume into Friday's battle, boasting a 19-5 overall record. The Aggies are coming off a tough 4-3 loss at No. 10 TCU but are winners of 16 of their last 18. During that 18-match stretch, the Aggies won 14 straight, including wins over then-top-ranked Ohio State and then-20th-ranked Oklahoma.
In the rankings, the Aggies boast four ranked singles players, including No. 46 Juan Carlos Aguilar, No. 61 Valentin Vacherot, No. 77 Hady Habib and No. 98 Barnaby Smith. Aguilar holds a 9-8 record at No. 1 singles, while Habib is 11-3 at the No. 2 spot. Vacherot is 13-2 at No. 3 (10-0 SEC) and Smith holds a 12-3 mark at No. 4. In doubles, Aguilar teams up with Smith to form the only ranked Aggie duo, coming in at 10th nationally and holding a 10-4 ledger at the top of the lineup.
Need To Know …
Live Scoring/Video
Friday's contest at the Mitchell Tennis Center will feature both live video and live scoring.
Last Time Out For MSU…
On April 5, the Bulldogs ousted then-25th-ranked Ole Miss 6-1 in a Senior Day battle. State started by claiming a tight doubles point with wins on courts 1 and 3 before taking all six first sets in singles action. MSU's singles triumphs came by way of Nuno Borges, Niclas Braun, Florian Broska, Trevor Foshey and Strahinja Rakic, with Broska clinching the match on court 6. All five of the Bulldogs' singles triumphs came in straight-set fashion. The Rebels would claim their lone point of the day on court 2, when Filip Kraljevic upset MSU's 52nd-ranked Oradini in three sets.
Next Up For MSU …
After taking on the Aggies, the Bulldogs will conclude their 2019 regular-season slate at Noon on Sunday, April 14, taking on No. 36 LSU in Baton Rouge. Then, State will wait to see who it will face in the 2019 SEC Championship quarterfinals next Friday, April 19, having already secured a top four seed in the league tournament to earn a coveted double-bye.
For more information on the Mississippi State men's tennis program, follow "HailStateMT" on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
STARKVILLE – Only two matches remain in the 2019 regular season for the No. 7 Mississippi State men's tennis squad, with the first coming in a crucial top-10 battle on Friday night at No. 8 Texas A&M.
The Bulldogs (17-3, 9-1 SEC) are riding a season-long seven-match winning streak into their showdown with the Aggies (19-5, 9-1). The teams are currently tied for second in the SEC standings in a race for two of the top three seeds in the 2019 SEC Championship, which begins Wednesday in Gainesville, Florida.
MSU In The Oracle ITA Rankings …
The Bulldogs are currently ranked seventh nationally, marking the 22nd straight edition of the rankings in which MSU has appeared in the top 25 and its 18th appearance in a row in the top 10. In the ITA national singles rankings, two-time All-American Nuno Borges leads three State players at No. 2 in the nation (matching his career-best), while Giovanni Oradini comes in at 70th nationally. State boasts a pair of ranked doubles tandems in third-ranked Nuno Borges and Strahinja Rakic and No. 15 Niclas Braun and Giovanni Oradini. The Bulldogs are one of just two programs in the nation with more than one duo in the top 15.
Know The Foe: Texas A&M
Texas A&M brings an impressive resume into Friday's battle, boasting a 19-5 overall record. The Aggies are coming off a tough 4-3 loss at No. 10 TCU but are winners of 16 of their last 18. During that 18-match stretch, the Aggies won 14 straight, including wins over then-top-ranked Ohio State and then-20th-ranked Oklahoma.
In the rankings, the Aggies boast four ranked singles players, including No. 46 Juan Carlos Aguilar, No. 61 Valentin Vacherot, No. 77 Hady Habib and No. 98 Barnaby Smith. Aguilar holds a 9-8 record at No. 1 singles, while Habib is 11-3 at the No. 2 spot. Vacherot is 13-2 at No. 3 (10-0 SEC) and Smith holds a 12-3 mark at No. 4. In doubles, Aguilar teams up with Smith to form the only ranked Aggie duo, coming in at 10th nationally and holding a 10-4 ledger at the top of the lineup.
Need To Know …
- Mississippi State is playing its 95th season of men's tennis, with Matt Roberts in his fifth season at the helm.
- MSU's No. 7 national ranking marks the 22nd straight week the Bulldogs appeared in the top 25 of the Oracle ITA Rankings and its 18th straight appearance in the top 10.
- Roberts ranks third all-time in career coaching wins at MSU (99).
- The Bulldogs have won the doubles point in 29 of their last 31 matches.
- Texas A&M holds a tight 8-5 advantage in the series, but MSU has had the upper hand lately, winning three of the last four meetings. The Aggies took the regular-season contest last season in College Station before the Bulldogs exacted revenge in the 2018 SEC Tournament title match.
- Nuno Borges ranks atop the MSU career wins charts in dual match wins (125) and dual match singles wins (74), while ranking second in singles wins (109), fourth in total victories (172) and seventh in dual match doubles triumphs (51).
- Borges has won a career-best 19 straight matches and is 18-0 in dual match singles play this spring.
- Borges and Strahinja Rakic team up to form MSU's all-time winningest doubles pair (52), while Niclas Braun and Giovanni Oradini are fourth with 41 wins.
- Braun is currently second in career doubles wins (84) and tied for third in dual match doubles wins (54) at MSU. In career dual match wins, the German ranks fifth (108) and ninth in career victories (165).
- Trevor Foshey has won seven of his last eight singles matches, including five in a row.
- Strahinja Rakic has won three singles matches in a row.
Live Scoring/Video
Friday's contest at the Mitchell Tennis Center will feature both live video and live scoring.
Last Time Out For MSU…
On April 5, the Bulldogs ousted then-25th-ranked Ole Miss 6-1 in a Senior Day battle. State started by claiming a tight doubles point with wins on courts 1 and 3 before taking all six first sets in singles action. MSU's singles triumphs came by way of Nuno Borges, Niclas Braun, Florian Broska, Trevor Foshey and Strahinja Rakic, with Broska clinching the match on court 6. All five of the Bulldogs' singles triumphs came in straight-set fashion. The Rebels would claim their lone point of the day on court 2, when Filip Kraljevic upset MSU's 52nd-ranked Oradini in three sets.
Next Up For MSU …
After taking on the Aggies, the Bulldogs will conclude their 2019 regular-season slate at Noon on Sunday, April 14, taking on No. 36 LSU in Baton Rouge. Then, State will wait to see who it will face in the 2019 SEC Championship quarterfinals next Friday, April 19, having already secured a top four seed in the league tournament to earn a coveted double-bye.
For more information on the Mississippi State men's tennis program, follow "HailStateMT" on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
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