Mississippi State Hosts NCAA Men’s Tennis Tournament for Fourth Straight Year

STARKVILLE, Miss. — Mississippi State University is hosting the NCAA Men’s Tennis Championships for the eighth time in program history, and for the fourth straight year. The Bulldogs will welcome teams to the A.J. Pitts Tennis Centre for the first and second rounds on Friday.

The Bulldogs earned the fifth overall seed in the tournament and will face fourth-seeded Tennessee Tech at 1 p.m. on Friday. The regional also features No. 2 seed Wisconsin and No. 3 seed Samford, who will play at 10 a.m. Friday. The winners will meet Saturday at 1 p.m. for a chance to advance to the Sweet 16, according to university officials.

Mississippi State enters postseason play with a 22-4 record, tied for the fifth-most wins in program history. The team also recorded 11 SEC victories, the second-highest total ever for the program. This marks the 15th consecutive appearance in the NCAA Team Championship for the Bulldogs, tying for the longest streak in school history. Since their first tournament appearance, they have reached the Round of 16 in each of the past three seasons and advanced to the quarterfinals last year for the first time since 2018.

The team’s NCAA history includes two semifinal appearances in 1994 and 1998, seven quarterfinal berths, and 18 trips to the Round of 16 overall, according to athletic department records. Individually, Benito Sanchez Martinez was named the 2026 SEC Player of the Year. He also received First Team All-SEC honors along with Petar Jovanovic. Mario Martinez Serrano and Niccolo Baroni were named to the All-SEC Second Team, highlighting the team’s depth.

For more information on the Mississippi State men’s and women’s tennis programs, visit Hailstate.com or follow the teams on X, Instagram, and Facebook using the handle “HailStateMT.”

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