Coaching Staff
Men's Tennis Staff
Jake Jacoby- Associate Head Coach
Jake Jacoby is widely considered one of the top young coaches rising through ranks of collegiate tennis.
Jacoby has been instrumental in Mississippi State’s success on the court and leading the Bulldogs’ recruiting efforts since he joined Matt Roberts’ staff as an assistant coach in June 2019. The Bulldogs have reached the NCAA Championships in each full season that Jacoby has been on staff with two trips to the Round of 16 and top 16 finishes in 2021 and 2023.
In 2023, Jacoby was named the ITA Southern Regional Assistant Coach of the Year after helping lead MSU to a 21-7 overall record. The Bulldogs won nine matches against ranked opponents, including four victories over top 20 foes. One of those ranked wins came against No. 2 South Carolina, which served as the highest-ranked win in program history.
State went on to win the Starkville Regional and reached the Round of 16 in 2023. The Bulldogs finished that year with three ranked singles competitors – Nemanja Malesevic, Ewen Lumsden and Carles Hernandez – as well as a pair of ranked doubles tandems consisting of Hernandez and Malesevic as well as Malesevic and Michal Novansky.
Jacoby assisted in the development of Hernandez, Malesevic and Ewen Lumsden All-SEC performers as well as Petar Jovanovic as a Freshman All-SEC selection. He also helped Lumsden attain ITA Southern Regional Senior Player of the Year and Gregor Ramskogler win Most Improved Senior in the ITA Southern Regional.
In 2022, Jacoby played a part in helping the Bulldogs be ranked as highly as 18th nationally and advancing to the Cambridge Regional at the NCAA Championships. Florian Broska earned first team All-SEC honors while Malesevic was a second team selection. Broska was also named the ITA Southern Region Senior Player of the Year and represented Mississippi State at the NCAA Individual Championships.
Jacoby oversaw ranked singles players in Broska and Malesevic as well as the doubles duo of Broska and Ramskogler, who were ranked as highly as sixth nationally.
During his first full season with the program in 2021, Jacoby aided in the Bulldogs’ top 15 finish and reaching the Round of 16 at the NCAA Championships. MSU went 18-10 that season with six ranked victories, including a 4-2 win at No. 10 UCF in the second round of the NCAA Championships.
Jacoby assisted in the development of All-SEC selections Broska and Giovanni Oradini, both of whom also reached the second round of the NCAA Individual Championships in singles. Broska also teamed with Ramskogler at that event and also made it to the second round. Broska, Oradini, Malesevic and Davide Tortora finished the year ranked in singles while Broska and Ramskogler were ranked in doubles. Malesevic was also tabbed the ITA Southern Regional Rookie of the Year.
Jacoby’s initial year with State in 2020 was cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Before the season was permanently halted, the Bulldogs were off to a solid 8-3 start with four shutouts and had already beaten No. 22 Oklahoma during ITA Kickoff Weekend.
Jacoby joined the Bulldogs after one season as an assistant at Charlotte in which he helped the 49ers finish the season ranked seventh in the Carolina Region.
Under Jacoby’s tutelage, 49er Luca Keist was nationally ranked for the majority of the 2018-19 season while finishing the year ranked 109th and earning first-team All-Conference USA singles honors as well as Conference USA All-Academic team honors. Constandinos Christoforou and Keist reached a program-best 18th in the ITA doubles rankings during the season. They earned first-team All-Conference USA doubles honors while being named alternates to the NCAA Doubles Championships.
Prior to his stint in Charlotte, Jacoby was a standout at the University of Iowa from 2014-18. In his collegiate playing career at Iowa, Jacoby finished his Hawkeye career with 128 combined singles and doubles wins, which rank him fifth in Iowa history. He tallied 60 doubles wins, which stands seventh-most in the program’s history, and his 68 singles wins rank ninth in Iowa history.
As a senior in 2018, he was part of a doubles team that won 16 doubles matches, including a career-high seven-match winning streak. He recorded at least 13 doubles wins in each of his four years, while also recording 20 wins twice.
The three-time Academic All-Big Ten selection and 2017 ITA Scholar-Athlete graduated from Iowa with a bachelor’s degree in finance in 2018.
Hailing from Roberts’ hometown of Little Rock, Arkansas, Jacoby enjoyed a stellar juniors career. He was a five-star recruit who was ranked among the top 75 recruits. A four-time Arkansas state champion, Jacoby competed in the 18’s USTA National Clay Courts Tournament and the National Championships in the summer of 2014. Not only did he excel on the tennis court, but he earned All-State honors on the soccer field as a goalkeeper.
Trevor Gotkowski- Assistant Coach
Trevor Gotkowski joined the Bulldogs as an assistant coach in the summer of 2024 and comes to Starkville after spending two seasons at The Citadel, where he served as associate coach.
“We’re thrilled to add Trevor to our staff,” said head coach Matt Roberts. “When we had the opportunity to add a third coach, we chose to take our time and find the right candidate and Trevor checked all the boxes we had. He brings a ton of energy and expertise. We look forward to him working with our guys when they get back in the fall and continuing to build our program for the future.”
During his time at The Citadel, he helped lead the Bulldogs to 18 victories - eight of which were shutouts - and competed in the inaugural NIT Championships in 2023. He assisted in the development of Sebastian Kamieniecki and Hayden Shoemake into All-Southern Conference performers in each of his seasons in Spartanburg.
“I feel extremely blessed to have this opportunity to work for not only this great program but a great university,” Gotkowski said. “To be able to work with and learn from easily two of the best coaches in college tennis, Matt and Jake, is something I will not take for granted. I hope to be able to help push Mississippi State tennis to the next level and to continue to compete and excel at the highest national level. My family and I can't wait to make Starkville our home.”
Prior to becoming a college coach, Gotkowski worked as a tennis professional and golf shop manager at the Kiawah Island Golf Resort in South Carolina and spent two years as the head tennis professional at Florence Country Club. He also co-founded and served as the primary instructor for Future Tennis, LLC and is a member of the Third Serve Foundation, which helps underprivileged children participate in tennis.
Gotkowski, a native of Cartersville, Georgia, was a four-year letterwinner at Wofford College from 2013-17 where he earned 45 career victories. He received his bachelor's degree in economics while also minoring in business.
Women's Tennis Staff
Taylor Russo- Assistant Coach
New women’s tennis coach Chris Hooshyar reached into his recent past to make his first hire at Mississippi State, tabbing Taylor Russo as his assistant coach.
Russo played for Hooshyar during his tenure at Auburn before she broke into the coaching ranks as an assistant coach at Wisconsin last year. During her tenure, Russo helped lead the Badgers to one of the most successful seasons in program history.
Russo was actually recruited by Hooshyar to The Plains out of Deerfield Beach, Florida, where she was the top-ranked player in the state and the No. 2 prospect in the Southeast. Russo played for Hooshyar for three years before he moved over to coach the Tigers’ men’s team.
During her lone season with Wisconsin, Russo helped guide the Badgers to their first victory in the NCAA Championships in 21 years. Wisconsin went 20-7 overall, including an 8-3 mark in Big Ten play and were ranked as highly as 11th in the nation during the 2023 season.
With Russo’s assistance, Ava Markham and Maria Sholokhova were members of the All-Big Ten team with Markham becoming the first Badger to qualify for the NCAA Individual Singles Championship since 2016.
As a student-athlete, Russo lettered for five seasons at Auburn from 2017-21 and was twice named a captain for the Tigers. She was selected to the SEC All-Freshman team in 2017 and was the ITA Southern Region Senior Player of the Year in 2020. She was a five-time SEC Academic Honor Roll member, was tabbed to the SEC Community Service Team three times as well as winning the Spirit of Auburn Award in 2020 and the ITA Southern Region Cissie Leary Sportsmanship Award in 2021.
On the court, Russo racked up 90 doubles wins and 85 singles victories, both of which rank in the top six in program history. She was ranked as highly as 60th in singles and No. 2 in doubles during her collegiate career and her 175 total career victories are the fifth-most in Auburn history.
Following her playing career, Russo spent the 2021-22 as a graduate assistant for Auburn’s student-athlete enhancement and AuburnYOU, the Tigers’ comprehensive life skills program. She has also spent time working as an instructor at the Yarbrough Tennis Center in Auburn and The Rick Macci Tennis Academy in Boca Raton, Florida.
Russo graduated from Auburn in 2020 with a degree in journalism and went on to obtain her master’s degree in communications there as well in 2022. She spent also two seasons working as a digital media intern with the Tigers’ men’s tennis team where she spearheaded all social media efforts for the program.
Noah Tippen- Assistant Coach
Noah Tippen was announced as Mississippi State women’s tennis assistant coach on July 24, 2023.
Before he arrived in Starkville, Tippen spent two seasons at James Madison where he was an assistant coach for the women’s tennis program.
In his first season, he helped coach the Dukes to a 9-11 overall record amidst the program embarking on its toughest schedule in program history. JMU faced off with seven teams in the national rankings, with a win against 62nd-ranked Michigan State.
Four Dukes were named to the All-Colonial Athletic Association Team, as Kylie Moulin was a Second Team singles selection, while Daria Afanasyeva earned Third Team status. In doubles, Daniela Voloh and Michelle Los Arcos were voted to the Third Team.
Year two saw a move to the Sun Belt Conference, and JMU finished 15-8 with a 9-1 mark in conference play to finish in second place. The Dukes advanced to the Sun Belt Championship title match after picking up postseason victories against South Alabama and Marshall.
Three players were named All-Sun Belt, as Kylie Moulin was a First Team All-Sun Belt singles selection and Daniela Voloh was named to the Second Team. In doubles and after going unbeaten against SBC foes, the tandem of Voloh and Daria Munteanu were voted First Team All-Sun Belt.
JMU ranked top 10 in the ITA Atlantic Region following both seasons, being fifth in 2023 and 10th in 2022. Moulin was 13th in the region singles rankings this past season and 18th following the 2022 campaign.
Tippen came to Harrisonburg after spending the 2020-21 year as an assistant coach at Bellarmine University for both the men’s and women’s tennis teams, as he helped the programs transition into their first season at the Division I level.
Prior to Bellarmine, he began his career at his alma mater, Mississippi State. Working with the Bulldog men’s tennis team, he was a volunteer assistant for the 2020 spring season and was previously a team manager and racquet technician from 2017 to 2019 while completing his undergraduate degree. At MSU, he was part of its 2018 and 2019 Southeastern Conference championships. The Bulldogs finished with a No. 5 national ranking in 2018, reaching the NCAA quarterfinals. They also finished No. 9 in the final 2019 rankings.
Tippen graduated from Mississippi State with a bachelor’s degree in kinesiology, and also received an associate’s degree in business from Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College. As a player at MGCCC from 2015-17, he was the 2016 Mississippi Association of Community and Junior Colleges singles and doubles champion and ranked as high as No. 44 nationally.
Tippen served as the Director of Tennis at Wildwood Country Club. Tippen was as an assistant pro at Prouts Neck Country Club and Magnolia Tennis Club, ran a collegiate development program and assisted in junior development at Inverness Country Club and helped with junior and adult clinics at Meadow Club of Southampton.