COLUMN: “We're not afraid about it, we're happy about it”

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — It won't surprise any Blue Raider fan to learn that Men's Tennis head coach Jimmy Borendame is a little superstitious. Many athletes and coaches with his level of success, including the five-straight CUSA titles his Blue Raiders have won, all have routines with repetition that some might say border on obsession.

So, with a return to the Starkville Regional in the 2024 NCAA Tournament after falling just short against host Mississippi State a season ago, it won't be a surprise if many of the routines from the Blue Raiders' win over Tulane in the first round in 2023 stay as close as possible to being the same for their matchup against No. 27 Georgia Tech.

"Coming back to Starkville, I really want to play (Mississippi State) once again in the NCAAs," sophomore Marcel Kamrowski said, referring to MSU cutting the Blue Raiders' run in the tournament short a season ago. "Of course, Georgia Tech is a really hard team for the first round, but I think that's what we want. It's what we've been working hard for the whole season."

Associate head coach Andrea Caligiana, the man in charge on Monday night at The Boulevard Bar and Grille watch party, with Borendame still away for his work on the NCAA Tournament selection committee, noted that being a lower seed this year (the No. 3 team in the pool instead of No. 2 a season ago), might change up some of the practice times or even the hotel the team stays in.

But at least one thing will remain constant: TASTE Italian Kitchen as the Blue Raiders' Starkville restaurant of choice.

"We found this Italian restaurant that was good enough for me," said Caligiana, a native Italian. "Usually, when we go to Italian restaurants, I'm the one complaining! But this one was good, so I believe we're going to go to that one every night."

While three of the four teams in Starkville this year — The Blue Raiders, the Bulldogs and the Alabama State Hornets — were in this same regional a season ago (a product of the NCAA rule that tries to match teams up at host sites within 400 miles of their campus if at all possible), the other critical difference makes advancing from the regional this year an even more daunting task: a Yellow Jackets team sitting just outside the Top 25, with their top singles player sitting just outside the top 10 to boot (No. 11 Andres Martin), will await the Blue Raiders.

"They're a very good team, very good at the top," Caligiana said. "Their number one player especially is one of the best players in the nation. The guys at two and three are very good as well, very experienced guys."

Team captain Demis Taramonlis, making his second NCAA Tournament appearance, but his first as a Blue Raider after transferring from Radford, immediately recognized the small margin for error.

"We have to come up strong, especially with doubles," Taramonlis said. "The first point is going to be very important. I think it's going to give the result at the end."

But a Blue Raider team that's gelled together well with a core of returning sophomores and the addition of a slew of talented transfers this season has the confidence to get out of Starkville, in large part because they knocked off the host Bulldogs earlier this season at the ATC, winning 4-3 after clinching at 4-1.

"We're not afraid about it, we're happy about it," Taramonlis said.

The confidence was echoed by his younger teammate, who was one of two Blue Raiders to score a point on the road in Starkville in the second round last year.

"Be brave, play our game and I think it's going to work," Kamrowksi said.

Middle Tennesee State University Athletics

Players Mentioned

Marcel Kamrowski

Demis Taramonlis

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