Bulldogs learn they will host NCAA regional
There has been no place like home for the Mississippi State men’s tennis team all season.
It’s a big part of the reason why the Bulldogs learned Tuesday that they’ll get to keep playing in their own backyard as they begin their run in the NCAA Championship.
MSU (20-2) has earned the No. 6 national seed in this year’s tournament and will host the first and second rounds of the event at the A.J. Pitts Tennis Centre.
Junior Trevor Foshey says there isn’t anywhere else the Bulldogs would rather be.
“We didn’t lose at home this year and we’re not looking to start that in the next couple of weeks,” Foshey said. “It’s just huge. You’re comfortable playing on these courts because it’s where you practice day in and day out, then you also have the fan support. Courts play different when you go to different places, but we know this court so well that it gives us a really big advantage.”
This will be the first time since 2013 that MSU has been selected as a host site for the NCAA Championship. The Bulldogs will be joined in Starkville by Memphis (18-5), South Alabama (14-9) and Tennessee Tech (10-11).
It’s a challenging field according to MSU head coach Matt Roberts.
“Memphis is a great team,” Roberts said. “They’re good in doubles. Their assistant coach, Chris Doerr, played (at Mississippi State). He’s done a great job there. They almost got into the top 16 for a while. Tennessee Tech, who we play in the first round, they’re good. They have a lot of Spanish guys. They’re kind of an under-the-radar type of team. Their No. 1 player beat (MSU junior Nuno Borges) in the All-American. He’s really tough.
“South Alabama has been here before. I think we have three great teams coming.”
MSU battles Tennessee Tech on Friday, May 11, no sooner than 1 p.m. The first round in Starkville will begin earlier that day when Memphis and South Alabama face off at 10 a.m. The two winners of the Friday contests will then play on Saturday, May 12, at 1 p.m. for the right to advance to the NCAA Round of 16, which will be played in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, on May 18.
The Bulldogs will enter the NCAA Championship riding high. MSU is fresh off of winning the Southeastern Conference Tournament title this past weekend.
“Even now, it’s still a surreal feeling,” Foshey said of winning the SEC Tourney. “It’s such a big high.”
However now, a fresh challenge awaits the Bulldogs. Roberts said his team will spend a couple of days focusing on schoolwork, then, later this week, it’s all systems go as MSU looks to defend its home turf where the Bulldogs have gone 10-0 this season. State plans to work to improve that mark now as the stakes get even higher.
“Thursday, we’ll get the band back together and start grinding,” Roberts said.