Mississippi State
Auburn
No. 24 MSU Holds Off No. 52 Auburn, 4-2
March 28, 2016 | Men's Tennis
STARKVILLE, Miss. – Propelled by four wins in singles action on Monday, the 24th-ranked Mississippi State men's tennis (13-5, 5-3) downed No. 52 Auburn (9-9, 1-6) 4-2 to cap its homestand.
“After an emotional match on Friday against Florida our guys became complacent today against Auburn,” head coach Matt Roberts said. “We did just enough to get the win, but that's not acceptable. We need to use every match as an opprotunity to improve and grow as a team.”
Auburn began the day on a good note after taking two matches to win the doubles point. MSU's tandem of Mate Cutura and Vaughn Hunter along with Nuno Borges and Niclas Braun would fall in doubles action to the Tigers on courts one and three. The Bulldogs would pick up one doubles win however, with the pair of Rishab Agarwal and Luka Sucevic picking up a 6-4 win against Auburn's Brandon Laubser and Edward Nguyen.
The lead for Auburn wouldn't last long after No. 80 Agarwal and Borges cruised to quick wins on courts two and three in singles play. The 6-0, 6-0 win for Agarwal and the 6-3, 6-0 win for Borges was the 13th dual-match victory of the season for each player.
Up 2-1, freshman Strahinja Rakic earned another two-set win for MSU on court five. Rakic outlasted a tight first-set tiebreaker and cruised in the second frame to defeat Auburn's Laubser 7-6(8), 6-0, earning State's third point of the match.
With a 3-1 advantage against Auburn, MSU would struggle to put away the Tigers losing the next match on court one to bring the score to 3-2. No. 22 Cutura dropped his contest 4-6, 6-3, 3-6 to Auburn's Marko Krickovic to narrow the margin between the Bulldogs and Tigers.
All eyes turned to courts four and six, as MSU would look to either Braun or Sucevic to clinch the victory.
Sucevic would be the Bulldogs' key to victory, securing the 4-2 win after the freshman won in three sets against Olle Thestrup, 6-3, 4-6, 7-6(5). The win for Sucevic was his fifth-straight dual-match win of the season. Braun's match was suspended after he was forced to a third set against Conner Huertas to round out Monday's action.
“Our guys got a great learning experience today,” Roberts said. “Going forward our guys are excited to train hard this week and get some work in on their games to prepare them for two great road matches.”
The Maroon and White hit the road next weekend, taking on in-state rival Ole Miss on Friday at 5 p.m. and Arkansas to cap the weekend on Sunday at 1 p.m.
For more information on the Mississippi State men's tennis program, follow “HailStateMT” on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
No. 24 Mississippi State 4, No. 52 Auburn 2
March 28, 2016 – A.J. Pitts Tennis Centre – Starkville, Miss.
Doubles
1. Hinnisdaels/Krickovic (AUB) def. Cutura/Hunter (MSU) 6-3
2. Huertas/Saleh (AUB) def. Borges/Braun (MSU) 7-6(5)
3. Agarwal/Sucevic (MSU) def. Laubser/Nguyen (AUB) 6-4
Singles
1. Marko Krickovic (AUB) def. Mate Cutura (MSU) 4-6, 6-3, 3-6
2. No. 80 Rishab Agarwal (MSU) def. Max Hinnisdaels (AUB) 6-0, 6-0
3. Nuno Borges (MSU) def. Dante Saleh (AUB) 6-3, 6-0
4. Niclas Braun (MSU) vs. Conner Huertas (AUB) 6-4, 6(8)-7, 0-0 susp.
5. Strahinja Rakic (MSU) vs. Brandon Laubser (AUB) 7-6(8), 6-0
6. Luka Sucevic (MSU) def. Olle Thestrup (AUB) 6-3, 4-6, 7-6(5)
Order of finish: Doubles… 1, 3, 2 Singles… 2, 3, 5, 1, 6
