MSU men’s, women’s tennis makes NCAAs
Mississippi State is hoping for a lucky number seven. For the seventh-straight season, the MSU's men's tennis team has reached the NCAA Tournament the squad learned on Tuesday. The Bulldogs will travel to Oklahoma for a first round matchup against SMU on May 12.
“It's cool,” MSU head coach Matt Roberts said. “It's the most fun part of the year. To make it, whether you are a Top 16 seed or Top 25 or whatever, just being a part of the tournament is great. It's time to celebrate your team and what you put together as a unit.”
Freshman Giovanni Oradini was sure the Bulldogs had earned an NCAA Tournament spot before Tuesday. Still, Oradini couldn't help but feel the excitement when he saw Mississippi State pop up on the screen as the team gathered to watch the selection show at the Leo Seal Jr. Football Complex.
“It feels really good,” Oradini said. “It's always fun to compete. I always can't wait to compete again. Just playing matches is really fun. Competing in the NCAA Tournament is going to be a really good experience.”
A spectacular season earned the Bulldogs their tournament berth. MSU enters the NCAA Tournament with an overall record of 20-8. Most recently, Mississippi State came up just shy of winning the Southeastern Conference Championship.
On Sunday, with the title on the line, MSU came up just short, suffering a 4-3 loss to Georgia. Still, Roberts feels like that experience proved the Bulldogs are playing their best tennis of the year right now.
“I feel like our doubles has felt as good as it has all year the last three weeks,” Roberts said. “Our spirits are high. We've been doing things really well off the court, too. We've got to sharpen up a couple spots, but as a whole, we feel really good about our group right now.”
A big part of Roberts' confidence is the emergence of
Oradini. The youngster claimed SEC All-Tournament honors after going 3-1 over the weekend. It was a muchneeded boost for Oradini according to Roberts.
“(In) the last few SEC matches of the year, he was just a freshman having ups and downs and struggling with his confidence,” Roberts said of Oradini. “We pushed him in practice pretty hard and got him focused on the right things and the little things that you can control. We helped him understand that failure is a myth. It's just part of the process to improve. Once he got that idea in his head, he started playing really loose. That was clutch for us.”
Oradini said his play of late can just be credited to perseverance and the relationships he has built in his short time in Starkville.
“When you feel good off the court and have good relations with your teammates and your coach, you trust them,” Oradini said. “That's going to make you feel good.”
Oradini and the rest of the Bulldogs hope to all be feeling good come next week when the NCAA Tournament begins, but the group knows it won't be easy. Should the Bulldogs get past SMU, 14th-seeded Oklahoma likely awaits.
However the Bulldogs don't plan to back down. This time of year, all opponents are tough. MSU just considers itself fortunate to still be playing with the chance to battle for a national championship.
“We're happy to be in it and we're happy to be pushed and have a good challenge ahead of us,” Roberts said.