Mississippi State
Georgia
No. 25 MSU Falls In SEC Semifinals To No. 6 Georgia
April 23, 2016 | Men's Tennis
COLUMBIA, S.C. – A night removed from a marathon win over No. 20 Kentucky, the 25th ranked Mississippi State men's tennis team (16-8) could not overcome top-seeded Georgia (20-3) as MSU fell to the sixth-ranked Bulldogs 4-1 on Saturday afternoon.
UGA will face No. 11 Florida in tomorrow's championship match at 11 a.m. CT from the Carolina Tennis Center.
"We have to give credit to Georgia, as they have proven themselves to be an NCAA Championship contending team with the resume they've built this year," head coach Matt Roberts said. "To beat a team like that you have to be ready to compete extremely well at every position and we lacked in a few spots today."
The Bulldogs from Athens began the day by taking the doubles point from MSU, as UGA defeated State's tandem of 45th-ranked Mate Cutura and Vaughn Hunter along with Niclas Braun and Trevor Foshey. Rishab Agarwal and Nuno Borges' match against Wayne Montgomery and Emil Reinberg was suspended with UGA leading 5-3.
In singles action UGA's No. 17 Austin Smith defeated No. 33 Cutura, 6-0, 6-1. Cutura had upset Smith back in March, with the junior winning a three-setter, 1-6, 6-4, 6-3. Soon after UGA would get another win in singles after Luka Sucevic fell to Reinberg, 6-1, 6-4.
Trailing 3-0, MSU would fight back on courts 2-5 as the Bulldogs claimed three of the four first sets. Borges, Braun and Strahinja Rakic all defeated Red and Black foes, with Braun and Rakic winning their first sets via tiebreakers.
No. 98 Borges earned a straight-set win against UGA's No. 96 Paul Oosterbaan, 6-4, 7-5, giving MSU its lone point of the afternoon. The ranked win was the freshman's fourth of the season. Borges also improved his win streak to five in a row.
With the final three matches neck and neck, State could not hold off UGA from clinching as No. 35 Montgomery downed No. 60 Agarwal, 7-6, 6-4. Braun and Rakic's matches were suspended in the third sets with Braun holding a 3-0 lead and Rakic trailing 3-2.
"Our guys battled hard and gave us a chance to do something special, we just came up a little short," Roberts said. "All in all, I am very proud of what this group continues to do and we will learn from this as we prepare for the NCAA Tournament."
The win for UGA was the second-straight in the series between the two programs.
MSU now prepares for its sixth-straight and 25th overall NCAA Championship appearance, with the selection show for this year's national championship field to be held on Tuesday, May 3, at 4:30 p.m. CT and will be streamed live on NCAA.com.
For more information on the Mississippi State men's tennis program, follow “HailStateMT” on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
No. 6 Georgia 4, No. 25 MSU 1
Saturday, April 23, 2016 – SEC Semifinals - Columbia, S.C.
Doubles
1. #7 Austin Smith/Ben Wagland (UGA) def. #45 Vaughn Hunter/Mate Cutura (MSU) 6-3
2. Paul Oosterbaan/Jan Zielinski (UGA) def. Niclas Braun/Trevor Foshey (MSU) 6-2
3. Wayne Montgomery/Emil Reinberg (UGA) vs. Rishab Agarwal/Nuno Borges (MSU) 5-3, unfinished
Order of finish: 2,1
Singles
1. #17 Austin Smith (UGA) def. #33 Mate Cutura (MSU) 6-0, 6-1
2. #35 Wayne Montgomery (UGA) def. #60 Rishab Agarwal (MSU) 7-6 (7-1), 6-4
3. #98 Nuno Borges (MSU) def. #96 Paul Oosterbaan (UGA) 6-4, 7-5
4. Walker Duncan (UGA) vs. Niclas Braun (MSU) 6-7 (6-8), 6-4, 0-3, unfinished
5. Nick Wood (UGA) vs. Strahinja Rakic (MSU) 6-7 (4-7), 6-1, 3-2, unfinished
6. Emil Reinberg (UGA) def. Luka Sucevic (MSU) 6-1, 6-4
Order of finish: 1, 6, 3, 2
