Ncaa Division I Men's Tennis Championships
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
s Senior Nuno Borges 2017, 2018, 2019 All-American 2017, 2018, 2019 SEC Player of the Year 2019 SEC Championship MVP 2017, 2018, 2019 All-SEC First Team 2017, 2018 NCAA Singles Semifinalist 2017, 2018, 2019 NCAA Singles Selection 2017 Oracle ITA National Fall Singles Champion 2018, 2019 SEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year Current ITA Singles Ranking: #1 (No. 1 NCAA seed) Junior Giovanni Oradini 2018 All-American 2018, 2019 All-SEC First Team 2018 NCAA Singles Round of 16 2018, 2019 NCAA At-Large Singles Selection 2018 SEC All-Tournament Team Current ITA Singles Ranking: #61 Seniors Nuno Borges(r) & Strahinja Rakic 2018, 2019 NCAA Doubles Automatic Selection 2018 NCAA Doubles Quarterfinalists Current ITA Doubles Ranking: #3 (No. 3 NCAA seed) Senior Niclas Braun(l)2019 NCAA & JuniorDoubles Giovanni At-Large SelectionOradini Most Wins In MSU History By A Doubles Pair (55) 2018 Oracle ITA National2018 Fall ITA Championships Southern Region Doubles Doubles Quarterfinalists Champions T2nd Most Wins InCurrent MSU History ITA Doubles By A Doubles Ranking: Pair (47) #32 NCAA DIVISION I MEN’S TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIPS Individual Championships — May 20-25, 2019 USTA National Campus — Orlando, Florida Mississippi State Men’s Tennis Notes 2019 NCAA Division I Men’s Tennis Individual Championships May 20-25, 2019 — USTA National Campus — Orlando, Fla. MSU's Borges Top Seed In 2019 NCAA Singles MSU's NCAA Individual Championship History Championship; Borges/Rakic No. 3 In Doubles State's selections to this year's NCAA singles and doubles field give The Mississippi State Bulldogs will be sending four players to the Mississippi State men's tennis 86 all-time selections in the national indi- 2019 NCAA Individual Championships in Orlando, Florida. It marks the vidual championships - 59 in singles and 27 in doubles. ninth-straight season State has had at least one representative in the The best finish State has ever had in the NCAA Singles Championship NCAA Individual Championships and the 34th year all-time. was the semifinals with Nuno Borges doing so each of the last two seasons. Senior All-American Nuno Borges earned a third-straight NCAA In doubles, All-American Bulldogs Laurent Miquelard and Joc Simmons Singles bid in 2019 after an absolutely incredible season on the court. paired to claim the 1994 NCAA Doubles crown in South Bend, Ind. Debuting at No. 1 nationally for the first time in his 2018-19 MISSISSIPPI STATE career in the May 1 ITA Rankings, he also earned MEN’S TENNIS HIGHLIGHTS No. 7 MSU Men's Tennis Continues the No. 1 seed in the 2019 NCAA Singles TEAM Success In 2019 Championship (the third Bulldog ever to do so, g 28th NCAA Championship appearance (24th While State is sending players to the NCAA joining Thomas Dupre [1997] and Marco Baron under team format adopted in 1977) Individual Championships again, the Bulldog [2001]). As such, he will earn ITA All-American hon- g 14th NCAA Championship Round of 16 team also had incredible success in 2019, ending ors for the third year in a row. He is the only appearance; third in the last four seasons with its 28th all-time NCAA Championship bid. Bulldog to earn a Top 4 NCAA Singles seed three g Ranked as high as 3rd nationally during the year g 24-4 overall, 11-1 (2nd) in the SEC While maintaining a Top 10 ranking the times during a career. g Won the SEC Tournament Championship for the entire season, the Maroon & White claimed the The senior, who became the first MSU player second-straight season SEC Tournament Championship crown for the ever to reach the NCAA Singles semifinals in 2017, g Eleven wins over top 25 foes, three in the top 15 second consecutive season. g repeated that result in 2018. He also earned SEC 24 wins are one shy of the program record of 25 The Bulldogs, led by head coach Matt Player of the Year honors for an unprecedented set by the 1979 Bulldog squad (25-2) g Earned 18 wins over 2019 NCAA qualifiers Roberts and assistant coach Andrew Goodwin, third consecutive season in 2019. He has compiled INDIVIDUAL secured the program's second-most wins ever an incredible 32-2 record this season and is riding g Nuno Borges gains All-America status after earning (24), while advancing to the NCAA Round of 16 for an amazing 26-match win streak into NCAA action the No. 1 seed in the NCAA Singles Championship the third time in the last four seasons. in Orlando. g Borges and Strahinja Rakic gain All-America status after earning top 8 seed (No. 3) in NCAA Doubles In doubles, Borges and senior Strahinja Rakic Borges Named SEC Player of The Year will represent State in the NCAA Doubles g Giovanni Oradini is in NCAA Singles draw for second-straight season (was first alternate) For Record Third Time; Four Bulldogs Championship for the second-straight year after g Borges named SEC Player of the Year and All-SEC becoming the first MSU pair ever earn the No. 1 First Team (both third year in a row) Earn All-SEC seed a year ago. As the No. 3 seed, the duo will g Giovanni Oradini and Strahinja Rakic also named Senior and top-ranked Nuno Borges has sim- once again earn All-America status in doubles. All-SEC First Team (second year in a row) ply been dominant for the Maroon & White all year, g Niclas Braun named All-SEC Second Team (third The tandem picked up right where they left posting an amazing 32-2 singles record while year in a row) off from their NCAA Doubles quarterfinal run a g Borges named SEC Tournament MVP; becoming the first Bulldog ever to go undefeated year ago, holding a 21-10 overall mark in 2018-19. Borges and Braun SEC All-Tournament Team during the dual match season (25-0). Borges' efforts This spring, the duo anchored the No. 1 position g Borges also named SEC Men's Tennis Scholar- were rewarded when the league announced him as with a 16-7 ledger (9-2 SEC). Together, Borges and Athlete of the Year for second year in a row the 2019 SEC Player of the Year, the first player in g Current ITA nationally-ranked players: league history to win the award three times. Rakic hold the most wins by a doubles pair in pro- Singles: Nuno Borges (1st) gram history with 55. Giovanni Oradini (61st) Borges was also named the SEC's Scholar- Junior Giovanni Oradini, who earned his first Doubles: Nuno Borges/Strahinja Rakic (3rd) Athlete of the Year for men's tennis for the second career bid to the NCAA Singles draw in 2018 and Niclas Braun/Giovanni Oradini (32nd) year in a row. A member of the All-SEC First Team, capitalized on it by advancing to the Round of 16 he headlined MSU's dominance. to earn All-America status, is in that field for ths second year in a row. Joining Borges on the All-SEC First Team was junior Giovanni Oradini Ranked 61st nationally at present, Oradini is 18-12 in singles overall and and senior Strahinja Rakic, each having outstanding seasons of their own. earned All-SEC First Team honors for the second year in a row. Oradini was 12-5 in SEC play overall this spring and is ranked No. 61 in Niclas Braun and Oradini (ranked 32nd at present) received an at- singles and 32nd in doubles. Rakic went 15-6 in league matches. large bid to the 2019 NCAA Doubles field. The pair has been outstanding Rounding out State's SEC player honors, senior Niclas Braun garnered this season, holding a team-best 29-7 overall record (17-2 in dual match- Second Team All-SEC laurels for the third year in a row. Braun has been a es). The duo is also steadily climbing up the charts for wins by an MSU stalwart in the MSU lineup during his career. This season, he is a combined doubles pair, ranking third all-time with 47. 52-17 in all matches, 31-7 in dual match competition, 14-4 in the SEC. NOTE TO THE MEDIA: Mississippi State University appreciatively welcomes your in ter est in Mis sis sip pi State tennis. This packet has been compiled to assist you in your coverage of the Bulldogs during the 2019 NCAA Division I Men’s Tennis Cham pi on ships in Orlando, Fla. If information you seek regarding the Bulldogs is not found within this supplement or online at www.hailstate.com/menstennis, please con tact Caleb Garner of MSU Athletic Communications to assist you in anyway possible. Garner can be reached via cell phone (662-361-1993) or through the MSU Athletic Communications Office (662-325-6259). Please contact Garner to coordinate any desired interviews with MSU head coach Matt Roberts and/or any MSU players, or for any other information you may need regarding MSU tennis. You may also contact John Cade, Assistant AD/Communications (662-312-0863), as a secondary contact. Thank you for your interest in Mis sis sip pi State tennis. Mississippi State Men’s Tennis Notes 2019 NCAA Division I Men’s Tennis Individual Championships May 20-25, 2019 — USTA National Campus — Orlando, Fla. MISSISSIPPI STATE'S HISTORY IN THE MISSISSIPPI STATE'S NO. 1 NCAA TEAM & INDIVIDUAL CHAMPIONSHIPS NATIONAL RANKINGS IN TENNIS Mississippi State Tennis has had five singles TEAM 1997: Matthieu Ballay (Round of 16) players and four doubles teams hold No. 1 national 1965: Mississippi State (8th) Thomas Dupre' (Second Round) rankings during their careers, Nuno Borges becom- 1966: Mississippi State (t3rd) Simon Larose (Round of 16) 1967: Mississippi State (t3rd) 1998: Matthieu Ballay (First Round) ing the most recent in the May 1, 2019, ITA Rankings.