No. 12 Mississippi State Set To Host Privateers in NCAA First Round

STARKVILLE – For the third consecutive season and fifth time since 2018, No. 12 Mississippi State is set to host the first and second rounds of the NCAA Championships on its home courts.

The top-seeded Bulldogs (22-5) will take on the fourth-seeded New Orleans Privateers (15-7) on Friday at 1 p.m. at the A.J. Pitts Tennis Center. The Michigan State Spartans (16-9), ranked 22nd nationally and the second seed, will face the three-seeded and No. 68 ranked North Alabama Lions (19-3) to start off postseason play at 10 a.m.

The winner of Friday's matches moves on to the second round set for Saturday at 1 p.m. at the A.J. Pitts Tennis Centre. In the case of inclement weather, matches will be moved inside the adjacent Rula Tennis Pavilion.

Rankings
MSU
Singles – Benito Sanchez Martinez (28), Petar Jovanovic (67), Niccolo Baroni (111)
Doubles – Jovanovic/Sanchez Martinez (1), Baroni/Martinez Serrano (60)

New Orleans
Singles – N/A
Doubles – N/A

Series History
vs. New Orleans
Overall: MSU is undefeated in the overall series with a 3-0 record.
In Starkville: All three meetings against the Privateers have been in Starkville, and State is 3-0.
Last Meeting: The last meeting was 10 years ago in 2015, as Mississippi State blanked New Orleans 4-0 in Starkville.

State Wins Leaders
Overall singles – Sanchez Martinez (25)
Matches clinched – Martinez Serrano & Sanchez Martinez (5)
Overall doubles – Jovanovic/Sanchez Martinez (29)
vs. ranked opponents – Jovanovic/Sanchez Martinez (16)
Double clinches – Sanchez Martinez (12)

Notes to know
• Mississippi State is in its 102nd season of men's tennis. The program played its first tennis match in 1907 and has competed every year since 1946.
• Matt Roberts is in his 13th season at MSU and 11th as the Bulldogs' head coach. Roberts has compiled a 208-82 overall record and a 133-25 mark at home. He is currently the longest-tenured head coach at State and the second-fastest coach to reach 200 wins, only behind Tom Sawyer.
• The Bulldogs have made 14 consecutive appearances in the NCAA Championships and have reached the Sweet 16 in five of the past six seasons.
• Men's tennis posted a 3.68 grade point average during the fall semester. It was the highest team GPA of any sport at Mississippi State.
• MSU has built an impressive home record this season, going 17-1 while playing in front of the home crowd.
• State is set to host the first and second rounds of the NCAA Championships on its home courts for the third consecutive season and fifth time since 2018.
• Petar Jovanovic and Benito Sanchez Martinez have accumulated 54 doubles victories together, which is the second-most in MSU history. They are three wins away from tying Nuno Borges and Strahinja Rakic for first.
• Jovanovic and Sanchez Martinez currently have 16 ranked victories as a tandem, which is the most by one pair in the SEC.
• Sanchez Martinez is tying or leading in every single category of the "State Wins Leaders". He is leading in both overall singles and doubles wins, clinches, and doubles ranked wins. He also ascended to his highest singles ranking of his career, being No. 28 in this week's ITA poll.
• Jovanovic and Sanchez Martinez are currently on a 13 match win streak in doubles. This is a career-best for both players, and they look to keep it going this weekend.
• The Bulldogs have won eight of their last nine, with their last loss coming in the Semifinals of the SEC Tournament to South Carolina.
• Bryan Hernandez currently has the longest singles win streak on the team with five in a row.
• Sanchez Martinez and Jovanovic both were named to the First Team All-SEC, and Niccolo Baroni was selected to the Second Team All-SEC and the All-SEC Freshman Team this past week.

For more Information on the Bulldog men's tennis program, visit Hailstate.com or search for "HailstateMT" on X, Instagram and Facebook.

– HailState.com –

No. 12 Mississippi State Set To Host Privateers in NCAA First Round

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Players Mentioned

Niccolo Baroni

Petar Jovanovic

Benito Sanchez Martinez

Mississippi State University Athletics