Friday, January 27
Gainesville, FL
11:00 A.M. ET
SMU
vs
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Mississippi State
Photo by: George Walker/DFWsportsonline
Mustangs Head To Florida For ITA Kickoff Weekend
Jan 25 | Men's Tennis
Mississippi State (4-0) vs SMU (5-1)
Alfred A. Ring Tennis Complex – Gainesville, Florida
10 a.m. | Friday, Jan. 27
Season Stats
Live Stats | Live Stream
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SMU travels to Florida to take on Mississippi State in the first round of the Florida Regional. First serve is at 10 a.m. at the Alfred A. Ring Tennis Complex. This is the first meeting for SMU and Mississippi State in men's tennis.Â
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Florida is the No. 1 seed, SMU will be the No. 2 seed, followed by Mississippi State at No. 3 and South Florida at No. 4.
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The ITA Kickoff Weekend is one of the most important events of the spring season. The top 60 men's college tennis teams come together for a weekend of competition against programs they do not typically face. Each team is playing for the chance to be one of the 15 teams to advance to the ITA National Team Indoor Championships.
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The Gators are one of 15 host schools as they finished the 2022 season ranked No. 2. The host sites are determined based off the final 2022 ITA Rankings. The remaining 45 teams participate in a draft where the head coach selects which home site they would like to compete at. Draft order starts with the No. 16 team finishing with the No. 60 ranked team.
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The Mustangs ended the 2022 season ranked No. 28. All four teams playing competed in the 2022 NCAA Tournament. SMU, USF and Mississippi State lost in the first-round while Florida lost to Virginia in the Elite Eight.
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Mustangs Mark
The Mustangs have won 39 out of their 47 matches played during the dual match season. Louis Cloud has a 4-0 record in singles play which includes the clinching point vs. UT Tyler. Liam Krall improved to 3-0, while not dropping a set. Pranav Kumar and Adam Neff are 2-1 playing in the No. 1 spot in doubles. Their only loss comes to the No. 4 ranked duo Sander Jong and Lui Maxted of TCU.
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Scouting The Opponent
The Bulldogs enter the tournament with a pair of wins over Tennessee State, improving their dual match record to 4-0. The Bulldogs have three ranked members in the ITA standings- No. 42 in doubles Carlos Hernandez and Nemanja Malesevic; No. 107 in singles Peter Jovanovic, who was selected as the SEC Freshman of the Week on Jan. 25th.
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Last Time Out
The Mustangs are coming off two victories over UTRGV and UT Tyler at the Styslinger/ Altec Tennis Complex Jan. 21. SMU defeated UTRGV 6-1 while sweeping UT Tyler 7-0 to move to 5-1 over the 2023 season. Liam Krall, Louis Cloud and Alex Stafford went 2-0 in singles play. The Mustangs have now improved to 10 straight home match victories.
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Up Next
The Mustangs will take on either take on No. 16 ranked Florida or South Florida in the Championship match at 1 p.m. or the consolation match at 9 a.m. on Saturday, January 28th depending on day one results.
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Alfred A. Ring Tennis Complex – Gainesville, Florida
10 a.m. | Friday, Jan. 27
Season Stats
Live Stats | Live Stream
Facebook | Twitter | Instagram
SMU Mobile App | Apple | Google Play
Â
SMU travels to Florida to take on Mississippi State in the first round of the Florida Regional. First serve is at 10 a.m. at the Alfred A. Ring Tennis Complex. This is the first meeting for SMU and Mississippi State in men's tennis.Â
Â
Florida is the No. 1 seed, SMU will be the No. 2 seed, followed by Mississippi State at No. 3 and South Florida at No. 4.
Â
The ITA Kickoff Weekend is one of the most important events of the spring season. The top 60 men's college tennis teams come together for a weekend of competition against programs they do not typically face. Each team is playing for the chance to be one of the 15 teams to advance to the ITA National Team Indoor Championships.
Â
The Gators are one of 15 host schools as they finished the 2022 season ranked No. 2. The host sites are determined based off the final 2022 ITA Rankings. The remaining 45 teams participate in a draft where the head coach selects which home site they would like to compete at. Draft order starts with the No. 16 team finishing with the No. 60 ranked team.
Â
The Mustangs ended the 2022 season ranked No. 28. All four teams playing competed in the 2022 NCAA Tournament. SMU, USF and Mississippi State lost in the first-round while Florida lost to Virginia in the Elite Eight.
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Mustangs Mark
The Mustangs have won 39 out of their 47 matches played during the dual match season. Louis Cloud has a 4-0 record in singles play which includes the clinching point vs. UT Tyler. Liam Krall improved to 3-0, while not dropping a set. Pranav Kumar and Adam Neff are 2-1 playing in the No. 1 spot in doubles. Their only loss comes to the No. 4 ranked duo Sander Jong and Lui Maxted of TCU.
Â
Scouting The Opponent
The Bulldogs enter the tournament with a pair of wins over Tennessee State, improving their dual match record to 4-0. The Bulldogs have three ranked members in the ITA standings- No. 42 in doubles Carlos Hernandez and Nemanja Malesevic; No. 107 in singles Peter Jovanovic, who was selected as the SEC Freshman of the Week on Jan. 25th.
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Last Time Out
The Mustangs are coming off two victories over UTRGV and UT Tyler at the Styslinger/ Altec Tennis Complex Jan. 21. SMU defeated UTRGV 6-1 while sweeping UT Tyler 7-0 to move to 5-1 over the 2023 season. Liam Krall, Louis Cloud and Alex Stafford went 2-0 in singles play. The Mustangs have now improved to 10 straight home match victories.
Â
Up Next
The Mustangs will take on either take on No. 16 ranked Florida or South Florida in the Championship match at 1 p.m. or the consolation match at 9 a.m. on Saturday, January 28th depending on day one results.
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Players Mentioned
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
Thursday, October 15
Wednesday, October 14
Wednesday, October 14
Tuesday, October 13
