Men's tennis preview: Mississippi State, Austin Peay and Alabama A&M

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — Middle Tennessee men's tennis will hit the road to Mississippi State, Jan. 29 and host a doubleheader with Ausitn Peay and Alabama A&M, Jan. 31 at the Adams Tennis Compex.

However, MT's Sunday matchups with Austin Peay and Alabama A&M can be seen on CUSA.tv and Playsight.

Match 4: Middle Tennessee (2-1, 0-0 C-USA) vs. Mississippi State (3-0, 0-0 SEC)
» Friday, Jan. 29, 2021 – 1 p.m. CST
» A.J. Pitts Tennis Centre – Starkville, MS

Match 5: Middle Tennessee vs. Austin Peay (0-0, 0-0 OVC)
» Sunday, Jan. 31, 2021 – 12 p.m. CST
» Adams Tennis Complex – Murfreesboro, TN

Match 6: Middle Tennessee vs. Alabama A&M (0-0, 0-0 SWAC)
» Sunday, Jan. 31, 2021 – 4:30 p.m. CST
» Adams Tennis Complex – Murfreesboro, TN

About the Blue Raiders
» Francisco Rocha, a junior on the Middle Tennessee men's tennis team, has been named the Conference USA Player of the Week for his strong win against Iowa's Nikita Snezhko at the No. 3 singles court and a clinching doubles win with Max Rauch. That's his first of his career.
» A dominant performance in doubles and three straight-set victories in singles propelled the Middle Tennessee men's tennis team past Iowa, 4-0. The win earned the Raiders revenge over last year's loss against the Hawkeyes in Iowa City.
» Middle Tennessee swept singles play against Louisiana on its way to a rousing 6-1 win in the season opener.
» Eight players return from the 2020 roster, and MT also welcomed graduate transfer Oskar Michalek (Troy) and freshman Andreas Kramer.
» Oskar Michalek is ranked No. 102 in the ITA's top-125 singles rankings.

All-Time vs. Mississippi State
» Middle Tennessee and Mississippi State have met a total of 20 times, the last occurring in 2013 (MSU won 4-3).
» The Bulldogs lead the series, 18-2. The Blue Raider wins happened in back-to-back meetings in 2005 and 2007.

Scouting the Bulldogs
» The Bulldogs collected their third-straight 7-0 victory with the win over Louisiana.
» MSU is led by senior and two-time All-American Giovanni Oradini at No. 36 in the country. Following right behind is junior Florian Broska at No. 87 nationally in singles.
» In doubles, the Bulldogs have two duos currently ranked with Broska and freshman Nicolas Ocana earning the nation's No. 28 spot. Rounding out the rankings is the duo of Alberto Colas and Gregor Ramskogler, coming in at 47th nationally.

All-Time vs. Austin Peay
» Middle Tennessee owns a 34-7 lead in the all-time series, with the most recent result being an 7-0 Blue Raider home win last season.
» The 41 previous meetings make this the most played rivalry in Blue Raider men's tennis history.
» MT has won 23-straight.

Scouting the Governors
» The Governors will begin the season when they host Lipscomb for an 11:30 a.m., Jan. 29 match against Lipscomb that will be played in Evansville, Indiana.
» Austin Peay return five from last season where they went 5-9 in the shortened season.

All-Time vs. Alabama A&M
» Raiders lead the series, 6-0 dating back to 1971.
» The Bulldogs have only taken two points off the Blue Raiders.

Scouting the Bulldogs
» Alabama A&M posted a 3-8 record in 2020 before the season was cut short.
» The three wins comes off of Prairie View A&M (4-2), Mississippi Valley State (4-0) and Alcorn State (4-1).

Visit www.GoBlueRaiders.com for the latest news and information on the Middle Tennessee men's tennis program. Fans are also encouraged to follow the program on its social media outlets at www.facebook.com/MTSUMensTennis and @MT_MensTennis on Twitter and @MT_MensTennis on Instagram.

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Players Mentioned

Andreas Kramer

Oskar Michalek

Max Rauch

Francisco Rocha

Middle Tennessee State University Athletics