Mississippi State will host Tennessee Tech in the first round of the NCAA men’s tennis tournament Friday at the A.J. Pitts Tennis Centre in Starkville. The Bulldogs are the No. 5 overall seed in the tournament and will face the Golden Eagles at 1 p.m. Central Time. An earlier match between No. 2 seed Wisconsin and No. 3 seed Samford will precede the contest at 10 a.m.
The winners of Friday’s matches will advance to play Saturday at 1 p.m. for a spot in the NCAA Round of 16. Mississippi State enters the tournament with a 22-4 record, matching the program’s fifth-highest single-season victory total. The Bulldogs also boast 11 SEC wins, among the best in program history. This marks the 15th consecutive NCAA appearance for the Bulldogs and the 34th overall.
Mississippi State has hosted the opening rounds of the NCAA tournament eight times, including the last four years. The team has advanced to at least the Round of 16 in each of the past three seasons, reaching the quarterfinals last year for the first time since 2018. Starkville has become a postseason regular, with deep runs in recent years.
Tennessee Tech, which posted a 16-7 record this season, earned its NCAA bid by winning the Horizon League title. The Golden Eagles defeated Youngstown State in the championship match. Although they have not beaten a ranked opponent this season (0-5), they enter the tournament on a nine-match winning streak.
The all-time series favors Mississippi State heavily, with a 9-1 record against Tennessee Tech. Under coach Matt Roberts, the Bulldogs are 7-0 versus the Golden Eagles. The team has also won eight of nine matches on its home courts in Starkville.
Mississippi State’s lineup features SEC Player of the Year Benito Sanchez Martinez and First Team All-SEC selection Petar Jovanovic. The roster also includes Second Team All-SEC honorees Mario Martinez Serrano and Niccolo Baroni. Jovanovic holds the program record for career wins, and Sanchez Martinez has been a mainstay on court one for 44 consecutive singles matches.
The Bulldogs have earned multiple accolades this season, including their first top-five victory over No. 4 Stanford at the ITA National Team Indoor Championships. They are ranked sixth nationally in the latest ITA team rankings, with five players ranked in singles and the doubles team of Jovanovic and Sanchez Martinez also highly regarded.
Mississippi State is in its 102nd season, with an all-time record of 1,129 wins, 649 losses, and 8 ties. Coach Matt Roberts holds the program record with 234 wins. The team returns eight letterwinners from last year’s NCAA quarterfinal squad, aiming for another deep postseason run.
