Mississippi State
LSU
No. 25 MSU Storms Past No. 48 LSU, 4-2
March 20, 2016 | Men's Tennis
BATON ROUGE, La. – Despite dropping the doubles point to begin the day, the 25th-ranked Mississippi State men's tennis team (12-4, 4-2) took four out the five singles matches on Sunday to down No. 48 LSU (8-8, 1-5), 4-2, on the road.
“Today was a great team effort from all eight Bulldogs,” head coach Matt Roberts said. “LSU competed very well and required us to be mentally tough at all spots and to compete together as one unit. Rishab, Nuno and Mate all showed incredible poise under pressure today to win the way they did against a tough team in LSU. “
The 4-2 victory for MSU was its sixth ranked win of the season. The Bulldogs have won 12 out of their last 14 matches on the year, while earning a 4-2 record in conference play.
To kickoff Sunday's contest, the Tigers jumped out to an early lead after claiming two doubles matches by a margin of 6-2. The No. 8 ranked pair of Boris Arias and Jordan Daigle downed Nuno Borges and Niclas Braun on court one, while Gabor Csonka and Andrew Korinek of LSU defeated Trevor Foshey and Strahinja Rakic at the No. 2 position. Mate Cutura and Vaughn Hunter's match on court two was suspended at 4-3.
In singles play, freshman Rakic earned the Bulldogs' first point of the day to even the score at 1-1. Rakic defeated LSU's Arias on court six, 6-0, 6-2, to earn his 10th dual-match win of the season. State would take the lead for good after Borges defeated LSU's Justin Butsch, 6-2, 7-5, on court three to give MSU the 2-1 advantage.
MSU's No. 36 ranked singles player, Cutura, earned his fifth ranked win of the season after the junior defeated No. 102 Daigle, 6-3, 2-6, 6-4 at the top spot. Cutura is now 4-1 in conference play on the singles court.
LSU's Andrew Korinek downed MSU's Foshey in a hard-fought three-set match at the No. 5 position, 6-3, 3-6, 7-5. The score would narrow to 3-2, but the Bulldogs would get a solid effort from junior Rishab Agarwal at the No. 2 spot to power past the Tigers and close out the match.
“It took Rishab a little while today to step up and play physical,” Roberts said. “Once he started looking for his forehand more, everything flowed from there including his return and transition on big points. He learned from his loss Friday and played aggressive.”
Despite dropping the opening set to No. 106 Csonka, the 77th-ranked junior responded by taking the next two sets to clinch the win for the Maroon and White. Agarwal's 3-6, 7-5, 6-2 victory was his 12th dual-match win of the season and fourth SEC singles win of the year.
“We will continue to focus on each player's development this week and get ready for another awesome home weekend,” Roberts said. “The team is excited to return home for Friday night and Sunday afternoon at A.J. Pitts.”
MSU returns home Easter weekend with a couple of SEC matches against No. 24 Florida at 5 p.m., and Auburn at 1 p.m., on Friday and Sunday.
For more information on the Mississippi State men's tennis program, follow “HailStateMT” on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
No. 25 Mississippi State 4, No. 48 LSU 2
Sunday, March 20, 2016 – Baton Rouge, La.
Doubles
1. #8 Boris Arias/Jordan Daigle (LSU) def. Niclas Braun/Nuno Borges (MSU) 6-2
2. Justin Butsch/Tam Trinh (LSU) vs. Mate Cutura/Vaughn Hunter (MSU) 4-3, susp.
3. Gabor Csonka/Andrew Korinek (LSU) def. Strahinja Rakic/Trevor Foshey (MSU) 6-2
Singles
1. #36 Mate Cutura (MSU) def. #102 Jordan Daigle (LSU) 6-3, 2-6, 6-4
2. #77 Rishab Agarwal (MSU) def. #106 Gabor Csonka (LSU) 3-6, 7-5, 6-2
3. Nuno Borges (MSU) def. Justin Butsch (LSU) 6-2, 7-5
4. Simon Freund (LSU) vs. Niclas Braun (MSU) 2-6, 6-4, 3-3, susp.
5. Andrew Korinek (LSU) def. Trevor Foshey (MSU) 6-3, 3-6, 7-5
6. Strahinja Rakic (MSU) def. Boris Arias (LSU) 6-0, 6-2
Order of finish… Doubles… 1, 3 Singles… 6, 3, 1, 5, 2
