Mississippi State to face South Carolina in SEC quarterfinals
BRYAN-COLLEGE STATION, Texas — Mississippi State will face South Carolina in the SEC Tournament quarterfinals on Friday at 2 p.m. CT at Mitchell Tennis Center, according to the tournament schedule.
The Bulldogs, seeded second, earned a double-bye into the quarterfinals after finishing second in the conference standings. South Carolina, the seventh seed, advanced after beating Ole Miss 4-1 in the second round. The teams met earlier this season, with Mississippi State winning 4-3 on the road. The Gamecocks won the last postseason meeting, a 4-3 victory in the 2025 SEC Tournament semifinals.
The winner will advance to the semifinals to face either LSU or the winner of the match between other quarterfinal competitors. Mississippi State’s head coach, Matt Roberts, holds the program record for wins with 232, and the team features several notable players including Benito Sanchez Martinez and Petar Jovanovic.
Sanchez Martinez is the only player nationally ranked in the top seven in both singles and doubles, according to the team’s notes. Jovanovic set the program record for wins in singles and doubles earlier this season. The Bulldogs have secured their first top-five victory of the season with a 4-3 win over No. 4 Stanford at the ITA National Team Indoor Championships.
Mississippi State’s roster includes five players ranked in the ITA singles rankings, led by Sanchez Martinez at No. 7. The Bulldogs have a 102-year history and have posted 25 wins last season, tying the program record. They return eight letterwinners from last year’s NCAA quarterfinal team.
In the program’s record book, Jovanovic ranks third all-time in doubles wins with 93 and is close to breaking the all-time record for dual-match doubles wins. Jovanovic also sits fourth in career singles wins with 107. The team is currently ranked sixth nationally in the ITA team rankings.
Mississippi State holds a 27-14 advantage all-time over South Carolina, including an 11-4 record during Roberts’ tenure. The teams split their two meetings last season, with the Bulldogs winning the regular-season matchup and Carolina prevailing in the SEC tournament.
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