Mississippi State
NCAA Individual Championships
Agarwal Caps Run At NCAA Singles Championship
May 26, 2016 | Men's Tennis
TULSA, Okla. – A stellar season for Mississippi State men's tennis junior Rishab Agarwal came to a close on Thursday, as fourth-ranked Aleks Vukic of Illinois needed two tiebreaker wins to defeat No. 54 Agarwal in a marathon NCAA Singles Round of 32 match.
Agarwal dropped the hard-fought contest to fourth-seeded Vukic, 7-6(8), 4-6, 7-6(6), to end his 2016 NCAA Singles Championship run at the Michael D. Case Tennis Center in Tulsa, Okla.
"Rishab showed great heart today and he fought hard," head coach Matt Roberts said. "He stood toe-to-toe with one of the nation's best players and took him to two tiebreakers. Rishab had an amazing season for us and I am proud of how he finished out his season here today."
Thursday's match, which lasted two and a half hours, began with Vukic picking up a tiebreaker win in the opening set, 7-6(8). Much like Wednesday's performance, Agarwal would bounce back from an opening set loss with a set win after the junior took the set 6-4.
Agarwal took a 5-3 lead in the final deciding set, but Vukic would come back to take a 6-5 advantage. With his back against the wall Agarwal broke Vukic to send the third set to the match's second tiebreaker. Agarwal would gain a 5-3 advantage in the tiebreaker, but the margin would close and then become tied at 6-6 before Vukic pulled ahead to win 7-6(6).
On the court, Agarwal ended the year with 22 total singles wins in 2015-16, while earning five ranked victories during the season. The junior's second round appearance was the first for MSU in the NCAA Singles Championship since Malte Stropp in 2013.
Academically, Agarwal received the Elite 90 Academic Award from the NCAA, which is given to top student-athlete participating in each of the NCAA's 90 national championships. The junior was the first student-athlete from MSU to earn the honor. Additionally, Agarwal was named the program's first SEC Scholar Athlete of the Year as well, adding to his trove of academic awards.
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