No. 12 Bulldogs Take on No. 6 Buckeyes in NCAA Round of 16

COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Mississippi State men's tennis team is going on the road to face the fifth-seeded Ohio State Buckeyes for the second year in a row in the Round of 16.

MSU (24-5) and Ohio State (28-3) are set to play outdoors in the Auer Tennis Complex on Saturday at 11 a.m. CT. The winner of the match will face the winner of Stanford and South Carolina on Friday in the Quarterfinals at Baylor University.

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

Ohio State
Singles – Aiden Kim (11), Alexander Bernard (61), Bryce Nakashima (97), Jack Anthrop (120)
Doubles – William Jansen/Nakashima (65)

Series History
vs. Ohio State
Overall: Ohio State leads the series 3-1 overall
In Starkville: MSU and OSU have never played in Starkville.
Last Meeting: Mississippi State faced the Buckeyes in the Round of 16 in Columbus, exactly like this year. MSU was the 16 seed while Ohio State was the No. 1 overall seed in the tournament. OSU ended the Bulldogs season with a 4-1 defeat.

State Wins Leaders
Overall singles – Sanchez Martinez (26)
Matches clinched – Martinez Serrano & Sanchez Martinez (5)
Overall doubles – Jovanovic/Sanchez Martinez (31)
vs. ranked opponents – Jovanovic/Sanchez Martinez (16)
Double clinches – Martinez Serrano & 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 211-83 overall record and a 135-25 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 six of the past seven 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.
• This is the third consecutive season that State has advanced to the Round of 16, and the 18^th time in school history to reach this stage in the NCAA Tournament.
• Petar Jovanovic and Benito Sanchez Martinez have a 15 match win streak that extends all the way back to February, and they have 16 ranked wins together this season, the most by one pair in the SEC.
• Jovanovic and Sanchez Martinez have accumulated 56 doubles victories together, which is the second-most in Mississippi State history. They are one win away from tying Nuno Borges and Strahinja Rakic for first all-time, and two from taking the record outright.
• The Junior Bulldog tandem are also tied for third all-time in Mississippi State history with Simon Larose and Matt Pledger in single season doubles wins by one pair with 31. One more win ties them for first all-time with two other Bulldog doubles pairs.
• 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 last week's ITA poll.
• Niccolo Baroni clinched both singles matches in the NCAA First and Second rounds last weekend. He has four on the year and is looking to be the first player to record three straight match clinches.
• Baroni and Martinez Serrano have a three match doubles win streak also and are looking to make it four.
• The Bulldogs have won 10 of their last 11, with their last loss coming in the Semifinals of the SEC Tournament to South Carolina.
• Bryan Hernandez Cortes has the second-longest singles win streak on the team with six in a row.

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

No. 12 Bulldogs Take on No. 6 Buckeyes in NCAA Round of 16

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Players Mentioned

Niccolo Baroni

Bryan Hernandez Cortes

Petar Jovanovic

Mario Martinez Serrano

Benito Sanchez Martinez

Mississippi State University Athletics