Mississippi State
Illinois
No. 21 MSU Blanks No. 15 Illinois 4-0; Makes Round of 16
May 15, 2016 | Men's Tennis
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Almost 15 years to the day, the Bulldogs came away with a second round win against the Illini in Champaign. This year's trip was no different as the 21st ranked Mississippi State men's tennis team (18-8) knocked off No. 15 Illinois (20-11) 4-0, to earn a trip to the 2016 Round of 16 in Tulsa, Okla.
The Bulldogs will now face the winner of No. 3 North Carolina and No. 31 Tulane on Friday, May 20, at 4 p.m. CT at the University of Tulsa's Michael Case Tennis Center. With Saturday's win, MSU advances to the Round of 16 for the 12th time in school history and the fourth time since the field expanded to 64 teams in 1999.
“I am so proud of these guys and what they've accomplished this season with their backs against the wall,” head coach Matt Roberts said. “It is unheard of for a team this young to be this successful, but these guys defy the odds. Before Friday we had only two players with any postseason experience and our younger guys handled it like veterans.”
Much like Friday's match, the Bulldogs started off hot in doubles action as the Maroon and White captured the doubles point with victories on courts one and three. The State duo of Rishab Agarwal and Niclas Braun picked a great time to win their first match of the season, as the tandem downed the Illinois pair of Jared Hiltzik and Asher Hirsh, 6-3.
On court one, the 47th ranked duo of Mate Cutura and Vaughn Hunter defeated the No. 87 pair of Aron Hiltzik and Aleks Vukic in a thrilling match, 7-5. For the junior pair of Cutura and Hunter, it was their third ranked doubles win of the season.
“We are playing well in doubles right now and I feel like we've found the right formula to win,” Roberts said. “We focused on our doubles the last couple of weeks and have developed our games a lot. The guys have played phenomenal in doubles this weekend.”
State's back-to-back doubles points wins marks the first time MSU has claimed the doubles point in back-to-back matches since the Feb. 13th doubleheader against UAB and Morehead State.
Riding the wave of momentum from doubles play, the Maroon and White came out on fire in singles play as the Bulldogs took four of the first six sets from the Illini.
As he did on Friday, freshman Sucevic again raced out of the gates for an easy win in singles to earn the Bulldogs first singles win of the afternoon. Sucevic defeated Hirsh, 6-1, 6-3, for his second singles win in the NCAA Championship.
Also picking up his second win of the postseason was fellow freshman Braun. The German native downed Julian Childers, 6-1, 6-2 to give State a commanding 3-0 lead over the host Illini. Braun's win was his 27th overall singles win of the season.
In his second match back from injury, freshman Nuno Borges again showed the talent that the MSU coaching staff saw in the Portugal native back in recruiting as he clinched the biggest match for the Bulldogs this season in two sets. The freshman downed No. 60 Aron Hiltzik, 6-2, 6-4, to give MSU the 4-0 win over the Illini and earn another trip to the NCAA Round of 16.
The win for Borges was his second of the NCAA Championship and 20th dual match win of the season. The Bulldog leads the team in dual match victories and is second on the team in overall singles wins despite joining the team in January.
The matches for Cutura, Agarwal and freshman Strahinja Rakic were suspended following the clinch by MSU. Cutura was leading No. 4 Vukic, 6-4, 5-2, while Agarwal and Rakic were trailing 6-2, 3-6, 1-0 and 6-4, 3-1.
“We had two players this time last year,” Roberts said. “Rishab and Mate believed in this program and stuck with us. Loyalty pays off and for us to win this way is just great to reward two men.”
The ranked win against the No. 15 Illini was MSU's 12th of the season and third on a neutral site.
Looking ahead to the next round, State is 1-1 all-time against North Carolina, with the last match coming last year in the postseason as the Bulldogs lost 4-1. MSU defeated Tulane 4-3 in New Orleans back in February.
For more information on the Mississippi State men's tennis program, follow “HailStateMT” on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
No. 21 Mississippi State 4, No. 15 Illinois 0
2016 NCAA Men's Tennis Championship – First Round
May 14, 2016 – Khan Outdoor Tennis Complex – Champaign, Ill.
Doubles
1. #47 Mate Cutura/Vaughn Hunter (MSU) def. #87 Aron Hiltzik/Aleks Vukic (ILL) 7-5
2. Alex Jesse/Pengxuan Jiang (ILL) vs. Trevor Foshey/Luka Sucevic (MSU) 6-6 (1-2), unfinished
3. Rishab Agarwal/Niclas Braun (MSU) def. Asher Hirsch/Jared Hiltzik (ILL) 6-3
Singles
1. #34 Mate Cutura (MSU) vs. #4 Aleks Vukic (ILL) 6-4, 5-2, unfinished
2. #16 Jared Hiltzik (ILL) vs. #54 Rishab Agarwal (MSU) 6-2, 3-6, 1-0, unfinished
3. #70 Nuno Borges (MSU) def. #60 Aron Hiltzik (ILL) 6-2, 6-4
4. Niclas Braun (MSU) def. Julian Childers (ILL) 6-1, 6-2
5. Pengxuan Jiang (ILL) vs. Strahinja Rakic (MSU) 6-4, 3-1, unfinished
6. Luka Sucevic (MSU) def. Asher Hirsch (ILL) 6-1, 6-3
Order of finish: Doubles (3,1); Singles (6,4,3)
