This weekend Mississippi State’s Men’s Tennis team travels to Auburn, Alabama, to participate in the SEC Invite. The Bulldogs are in the middle of their fall season which consists mainly of individual tournaments. The SEC Invite will not be an exception, as MSU players will compete individually rather than as a team.
Matt Roberts coaches the Bulldogs. Roberts has had plenty of experience in the SEC, having played at the University of Arkansas from 2003 to 2006. At Arkansas he was a three- time captain and earned a letter all four years, he also was on the All-SEC team his junior and senior year. He is in his sixth year of coaching Tennis, and spent two years as an assistant at Michigan State before spending another two years as an assistant at Mississippi State.
In 2014, after two years as an assistant he became the Head Coach at Mississippi State. In his first spring season at Mississippi State, the Men’s Tennis team went 20-8 overall and 9-3 in SEC play.
Roberts said the opportunity to compete in the SEC as a player has benefited him a great deal as a Head coach. “Definitely got me used to the level of players I need to recruit and the level of the team I need to put together to play in the SEC, ” Roberts said.
The star for the Bulldogs is junior Rishab Agarwal, who is from Hyberabad, India. Agarwal has an overall singles record of 40-13 and 15-2 in SEC play. In doubles he is 20-9 overall and 5-6 in SEC play. Last year was a break out year for him as he was named to the All-SEC second team and the SEC Championship All-Tournament Team.
“I love it here, I love to play tennis here and the whole college experience itself,” Agarwal said on moving from India to Mississippi State.
Agarwal goes into the SEC Invite coming off of a semi-final finish at the Houston 15k Futures, an impressive finish in an event that had 64 players compete from all over the world. While Agarwal was in Texas, junior Vaughn Hunter, freshman Niclas Braun, freshman Lucas Sanchez and freshman Trevor Foshey all exited in the second round of the UTSA/ITA Southern Regional Championships in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. After, both Hunter and Braun did well in the consolation bracket, with Hunter advancing to the semi-finals and Braun advancing all the way to the consolation finals before losing.
“We got a lot of young guys and we just want them to do all the things that they can control right,” Roberts said. “That’s body language, mental toughness, team support, energy, and if they do all those things right there is a good chance they will give themselves an opportunity to win.”
Agarwal and other Bulldogs will carry that momentum into the SEC Invite. As they will compete against other SEC schools. The event will start today and go through the weekend.
After that, the Bulldogs will finish out the individual season. They start team play on January 23rd against LSU in Tampa, Florida.
“This weekend should be a good opportunity for us to see where we are at and where the other SEC teams are at,” Agarwal said on how they can build off this weekend.
