STARKVILLE – Fresh off a top 15 victory over Auburn on Thursday, No. 18 Mississippi State men’s tennis returns to action in a Saturday doubleheader against No. 39 Texas A&M and Belmont.
The Bulldogs open the day against the Aggies at noon and are set to close out the afternoon against the Bruins at 4 at the A.J. Pitts Tennis Centre.
MSU (13-2, 2-1 SEC) is coming off a 4-3 victory over 15th-ranked Auburn marking the Bulldogs’ third top 20 win of the year. Matt Roberts‘ squad is 11-0 at home this season and has won a dozen straight non-conference matches in Starkville dating back to last season.
The next home victory will mark the 100th of Roberts’ career. He has compiled an impressive 99-19 home record during his nine seasons as State’s head coach.
The Bulldogs’ lineup is headlined by No. 89 Carles Hernandez, who has won seven straight matches and 12 of his 13 singles matches this spring. Hernandez leads the team with an 18-3 overall record on the year.
No. 125 Nemanja Malesevic clinched Thursday’s win over Auburn and tops Mississippi State with four clinches and five victories over ranked opponents this season. Hernandez and Malesevic also make up the nation’s 26th-ranked doubles tandem.
The Bulldogs will look to turn things around against Texas A&M. The Aggies have won the last three meetings in the series, including a 5-2 win in College Station last spring.
Texas A&M enters the weekend with a 6-7 overall record and is 1-2 in conference play. The Aggies are winless in five road matches this year and coming off a 5-2 loss at ninth-ranked Georgia on Thursday.
Texas A&M features four ranked competitors in its singles lineup in Noah Schachter (31), Raphael Perot (66), Pierce Rollins (100) and Trey Hilderbrand (109).
Hernandez had two wins over members of the Aggies’ roster in 2021 defeating Rollins 7-5, 6-4 during the regular season and also downed Hilderbrand 7-6(6), 3-6, 6-2 in the second round of the NCAA Championships in Orlando, Florida while Hilderbrand was playing at UCF.
Malesevic also earned a 6-4, 7-6(3) win over Perot in College Station last year.
Belmont, which earned its first ever national ranking late last month,…
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