Sunday, February 19
Charlottesville,Va.
8:00 AM
Mississippi State
4
vs
3
Northwestern
No.3 Nuno Borges, who was celebrating a birthday on Sunday, clinched MSU's 4-3 win.
No. 16 Bulldogs Rally To Upset No. 7 Northwestern
February 19, 2017 | Men's Tennis
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – A late-match rally for the 16th-ranked Mississippi State men's tennis team (5-3) propelled the Bulldogs to a 4-3 upset of No. 7 Northwestern (10-3) as MSU closed play at the ITA National Team Indoor Championships.
The Bulldogs trailed 3-1 before the late rally as MSU reeled off three-consecutive singles wins to clinch the 4-3 victory over No. 7 NU. MSU's defeat of No. 7 NU was the tennis program's highest ranked win since upsetting No. 6 Georgia in 2015.
"I'm so proud of this team and the way we fought today," head coach Matt Roberts said. "We got down early, but we never lost our focus and showed mental toughness down the stretch. Northwestern is a top 10 team and we knew it was going to be a tough battle, but our guys showed tremendous effort and heart in the win. Everyday is another opportunity to get better and we took advantage of that opportunity today."
Sunday's match began with the Bulldogs and Wildcats trading doubles matches, as Mate Cutura and Giovanni Oradini fell, 6-1, before No. 44 Niclas Braun and Trevor Foshey earned their second ranked doubles win of the weekend after defeating No. 53 Konrad Zieba and Sam Shropshire, 6-4. NU claimed the doubles point following a Nuno Borges and Strahinja Rakic defeat as the pair fell in a hard-fought match, 7-5.
In singles action, Braun raced out to a quick finish against Ben Vandixhorn to earn a straight-set win. The sophomore blew past his Wildcat foe, 6-1, 6-3, to even the score at 1-1. NU bounced back to claim a victory against Cutura, 6-2, 6-4 as the Wildcats retook the lead at 2-1.
With the slight advantage, NU pushed the match to the doorstep of a win as the Wildcats claimed a victory against MSU's freshman Oradini, 7-6(3), 6-4. Down 3-1, the Bulldogs mounted their comeback.
"We've stressed mental toughness to our guys all season," Roberts said. "We needed the last three matches and Nuno, Trevor and Strale came through for us."
Rakic earned his ninth singles win of the season after taking a second-set tiebreaker to cap his, 6-4, 7-6(3) victory and cut the Wildcat lead to 3-2. On court six, Foshey had an amazing comeback after dropping his opening set, with the sophomore earning a 4-6, 7-5, 6-4, win to even the match at 3-3.
After Foshey's win and the pressure squarely on the Wildcats, there was no doubt what Borges would do in his third set. The third-ranked sophomore capped the MSU's comeback with a 6-3, 5-7, 6-3 win over No. 25 Strong Kirchheimer, to give the Bulldogs the 4-3 win.
The win for Borges was his team-leading 17th singles win and ninth ranked victory of the season. Borges also improved his perfect record at the No. 1 spot to 7-0 for his career. Sunday, as luck would have it, was also Borges' birthday with the sophomore clinching the Bulldog win.
Up Next
The Bulldogs will host Tulane (7-1) and NC State (6-4) for its home-opening weekend, with MSU facing the Green Wave on Friday at 3 p.m. CT, before taking on the Wolfpack Sunday at 11 a.m. CT to close out the weekend.
Additional Notes
Social Media
For more information on the Mississippi State men's tennis program, follow "HailStateMT" on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
No. 16 Mississippi State 4, No. 7 Northwestern 3
ITA National Team Indoor Championships – Consolation Round
Charlottesville, Va. – Boar's Head Sports Club – Feb. 19, 2017
Doubles
1. No. 44 Niclas Braun/Trevor Foshey (MSU) def. No. 53 Konrad Zieba/ Sam Shropshire (NU) 6-4
2. Kirchheimer/Dominik Stary (NU) def. Mate Cutura/Giovanni Oradini (MSU) 6-1
3. Michael Lorenzini/Chris Ephron (NU) def. Nuno Borges/Strahinja Rakic (MSU) 7-5
Order of finish: 2, 1, 3
Singles
1. No. 3 Nuno Borges (MSU) def. No. 25 Strong Kirchheimer (NU) 6-3, 5-7, 6-3*
2. Konrad Zieba (NU) def. Mate Cutura (MSU) 6-2, 6-4
3. Strahinja Rakic (MSU) def. Sam Shropshire (NU) 6-4, 7-6(3)
4. Dominik Stary (NU) def. Giovanni Oradini (MSU) 7-6(3), 6-4
5. Niclas Braun (MSU) def. Ben Vandizhorn (NU) 6-1, 6-3
6. Trevor Foshey (MSU) def. Jason Seidman (NU) 4-6, 7-5, 6-4
Order of finish: 5, 2, 4, 3, 6, 1
* - Match-clinching victory
The Bulldogs trailed 3-1 before the late rally as MSU reeled off three-consecutive singles wins to clinch the 4-3 victory over No. 7 NU. MSU's defeat of No. 7 NU was the tennis program's highest ranked win since upsetting No. 6 Georgia in 2015.
"I'm so proud of this team and the way we fought today," head coach Matt Roberts said. "We got down early, but we never lost our focus and showed mental toughness down the stretch. Northwestern is a top 10 team and we knew it was going to be a tough battle, but our guys showed tremendous effort and heart in the win. Everyday is another opportunity to get better and we took advantage of that opportunity today."
Sunday's match began with the Bulldogs and Wildcats trading doubles matches, as Mate Cutura and Giovanni Oradini fell, 6-1, before No. 44 Niclas Braun and Trevor Foshey earned their second ranked doubles win of the weekend after defeating No. 53 Konrad Zieba and Sam Shropshire, 6-4. NU claimed the doubles point following a Nuno Borges and Strahinja Rakic defeat as the pair fell in a hard-fought match, 7-5.
In singles action, Braun raced out to a quick finish against Ben Vandixhorn to earn a straight-set win. The sophomore blew past his Wildcat foe, 6-1, 6-3, to even the score at 1-1. NU bounced back to claim a victory against Cutura, 6-2, 6-4 as the Wildcats retook the lead at 2-1.
With the slight advantage, NU pushed the match to the doorstep of a win as the Wildcats claimed a victory against MSU's freshman Oradini, 7-6(3), 6-4. Down 3-1, the Bulldogs mounted their comeback.
"We've stressed mental toughness to our guys all season," Roberts said. "We needed the last three matches and Nuno, Trevor and Strale came through for us."
Rakic earned his ninth singles win of the season after taking a second-set tiebreaker to cap his, 6-4, 7-6(3) victory and cut the Wildcat lead to 3-2. On court six, Foshey had an amazing comeback after dropping his opening set, with the sophomore earning a 4-6, 7-5, 6-4, win to even the match at 3-3.
After Foshey's win and the pressure squarely on the Wildcats, there was no doubt what Borges would do in his third set. The third-ranked sophomore capped the MSU's comeback with a 6-3, 5-7, 6-3 win over No. 25 Strong Kirchheimer, to give the Bulldogs the 4-3 win.
The win for Borges was his team-leading 17th singles win and ninth ranked victory of the season. Borges also improved his perfect record at the No. 1 spot to 7-0 for his career. Sunday, as luck would have it, was also Borges' birthday with the sophomore clinching the Bulldog win.
Up Next
The Bulldogs will host Tulane (7-1) and NC State (6-4) for its home-opening weekend, with MSU facing the Green Wave on Friday at 3 p.m. CT, before taking on the Wolfpack Sunday at 11 a.m. CT to close out the weekend.
Additional Notes
- The Bulldogs are now 4-0 all-time against Northwestern
- Before Sunday's matchup, the two teams had not met since 1978
- The Bulldogs faced the No. 2, No. 6 and No. 7 ranked teams at the ITA Indoors
- State earned its highest ranked win away from home since 2014's upset of No. 4 Georgia, also at the ITA Indoors
- Head coach Matt Roberts earned his 25th ranked win at MSU on Sunday
- No. 44 Niclas Braun and Trevor Foshey have defeated four ranked duos this year
- No. 3 Nuno Borges remains undefeated for his career at the No. 1 spot for MSU at 7-0
Social Media
For more information on the Mississippi State men's tennis program, follow "HailStateMT" on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
No. 16 Mississippi State 4, No. 7 Northwestern 3
ITA National Team Indoor Championships – Consolation Round
Charlottesville, Va. – Boar's Head Sports Club – Feb. 19, 2017
Doubles
1. No. 44 Niclas Braun/Trevor Foshey (MSU) def. No. 53 Konrad Zieba/ Sam Shropshire (NU) 6-4
2. Kirchheimer/Dominik Stary (NU) def. Mate Cutura/Giovanni Oradini (MSU) 6-1
3. Michael Lorenzini/Chris Ephron (NU) def. Nuno Borges/Strahinja Rakic (MSU) 7-5
Order of finish: 2, 1, 3
Singles
1. No. 3 Nuno Borges (MSU) def. No. 25 Strong Kirchheimer (NU) 6-3, 5-7, 6-3*
2. Konrad Zieba (NU) def. Mate Cutura (MSU) 6-2, 6-4
3. Strahinja Rakic (MSU) def. Sam Shropshire (NU) 6-4, 7-6(3)
4. Dominik Stary (NU) def. Giovanni Oradini (MSU) 7-6(3), 6-4
5. Niclas Braun (MSU) def. Ben Vandizhorn (NU) 6-1, 6-3
6. Trevor Foshey (MSU) def. Jason Seidman (NU) 4-6, 7-5, 6-4
Order of finish: 5, 2, 4, 3, 6, 1
* - Match-clinching victory
Players Mentioned
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