Sunday, April 1
Knoxville, Tenn.
12:00 PM
Mississippi State
4
at
2
Tennessee
Giovanni Oradini clinched his team-leading fourth match on Sunday in MSU's 4-2 win at Tennessee.
Photo by: Trevor Birchett/MSU Athletics
No. 12 Bulldogs Keep Rolling; Fend Off No. 19 Tennessee 4-2 In Knoxville
April 01, 2018 | Men's Tennis
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – There were no April Fools jokes on Sunday, as the 12th-ranked Mississippi State men's tennis team (14-1, 8-0 SEC) battled back from an early 1-0 deficit to take a 4-2 victory at No. 19 Tennessee (17-6, 6-3) at Barksdale Tennis Stadium. The Vols gave the Bulldogs a strong test, winning doubles and taking MSU to three sets in four singles contests.
The Bulldogs' win moves them to 14-1 for the first time since the 1997 squad started 14-1. MSU's 8-0 start in league play extended its record-setting start in SEC action. State remains tied atop the SEC standings with No. 6 Texas A&M who also stayed unbeaten in the league Sunday with a 4-3 win at Kentucky.
"Before this weekend we challenged each other to be the best we've been so far this season in our maturity and how we handle adversity," fourth-year head coach Matt Roberts said. "We definitely made a great stride in this area and walk away from these two tough matches having another level of trust in each other. We knew that Tennessee was going to play tough, so after we lost the doubles point, we had to make a push. I'm proud of the way our guys responded and worked together all day."
Doubles was hotly contested on all three courts. The Bulldogs took an early advantage when 30th-ranked Niclas Braun and Giovanni Oradini notched their ninth-straight win with a 6-4 triumph over Tennessee's Timo Stodder and Adam Walton on court 2. At the No. 2 doubles position this season, the Bulldogs are now a perfect 13-0.
The Volunteers evened up the doubles count shortly thereafter with an identical 6-4 win on court 3 by Nicaise Muamba and Andrew Rogers against MSU's 65th-ranked Florian Broska and Trevor Foshey. The doubles point all came down to court 1.
At the No. 1 spot, MSU's 58th-ranked duo of Nuno Borges and Strahinja Rakic were in the midst of a nip-and-tuck battle with UT's No. 15 Preston Touliatos and Luis Valero. Down 5-3, Borges and Rakic took the next three games to go up 6-5 before UT forced a 6-all tiebreaker. The tiebreaker, much like the match, was back-and-forth. Touliatos and Valero led 4-2 before Borges and Rakic tied it up at 4-all. The Volunteer tandem was then able to win the final three points to clinch doubles for UT. Tennessee led 1-0 at intermission.
In singles, two Bulldogs finished rather quickly to help put the Bulldogs on the board. First, on court 3, the 86th-ranked Rakic took a 6-3, 6-3 victory against Walton to win his third straight match. Moments later, Braun notched his sixth consecutive win with a 6-3, 6-1 triumph against Touliatos on court 4. Braun has now won 10 of his last 11 singles decisions—all in dual match play.
But the remaining four matches would all take three sets to decide and were all nip-and-tuck.
MSU's third-ranked Borges put the Bulldogs ahead 3-1 with a hard-fought 7-6(1), 5-7, 6-4 triumph against UT's No. 16 Stodder on court 1. The match was about as back-and-forth as it could have gotten, despite Borges dominating the first set breaker, 7-1. Stodder fought back to even it up in the second before Borges closed out the match by winning the final two games, including a break of Stodder's serve in the final game.
The Vols tightened the gap to 3-2 MSU when Luca Wiedenmann notched a three-set win of his own on court 6, downing State's Foshey 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.
The Maroon and White got the win it needed on court 2, when the 13th-ranked Oradini held at 40-30 to complete his comeback effort and defeat UT's Valero by a 4-6, 7-5, 6-3 mark. Oradini finished 4-0 in singles and doubles combined for the weekend.
MSU's Florian Broska was in the heat of a tight battle with Scott Jones on court 5 when the match was stopped. Broska rallied to take the first set 7-5 before Jones took a 7-6(2) win in the second frame. Jones led 5-3 in the third when the match was suspended.
MSU improved to 20-34 against Tennessee since 1971 but has now won four in a row in the series and seven of the last 10 meetings. Against ranked opponents under Roberts, the Bulldogs are now 43-36 overall (8-1 this season).
Next Up For MSU…
After returning from Knoxville, the Bulldogs will get ready to host their final home match of the regular season on Friday, when MSU will take on 46th-ranked Arkansas (10-11, 3-6 SEC) at 3 p.m. at the A.J. Pitts Tennis Centre. Admission to the match is free.
For more information on the Mississippi State men's tennis program, follow "HailStateMT" on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
No. 12 Mississippi State 4, No. 19 Tennessee 2
Barksdale Tennis Stadium
Knoxville, Tenn.
April 1, 2018
Doubles
1. #15 Preston Touliatos/Luis Valero (UT) def. #58 Nuno Borges/Strahinja Rakic (MSU) 7-6(4)
2. #30 Niclas Braun/Giovanni Oradini (MSU) def. Timo Stodder/Adam Walton (UT) 6-4
3. Nicaise Muamba/Andrew Rogers (UT) def. #65 Florian Broska/Trevor Foshey (MSU) 6-4
Order of finish: 2, 3, 1
Singles
1. #3 Nuno Borges (MSU) def. #16 Timo Stodder (UT) 7-6(1), 5-7, 6-4
2. #13 Giovanni Oradini (MSU) def. Luis Valero (UT) 4-6, 7-5, 6-3
3. #86 Strahinja Rakic (MSU) def. Adam Walton (UT) 6-3, 6-3
4. Niclas Braun (MSU) def. Preston Touliatos (UT) 6-3, 6-1
5. Florian Broska (MSU) vs. Scott Jones (UT) 7-5, 6-7(2), 3-5 (susp.)
6. Luca Weidenmann (UT) def. Trevor Foshey (MSU) 3-6, 6-4, 6-4
Order of finish: 3, 4, 1, 6, 2
The Bulldogs' win moves them to 14-1 for the first time since the 1997 squad started 14-1. MSU's 8-0 start in league play extended its record-setting start in SEC action. State remains tied atop the SEC standings with No. 6 Texas A&M who also stayed unbeaten in the league Sunday with a 4-3 win at Kentucky.
"Before this weekend we challenged each other to be the best we've been so far this season in our maturity and how we handle adversity," fourth-year head coach Matt Roberts said. "We definitely made a great stride in this area and walk away from these two tough matches having another level of trust in each other. We knew that Tennessee was going to play tough, so after we lost the doubles point, we had to make a push. I'm proud of the way our guys responded and worked together all day."
Doubles was hotly contested on all three courts. The Bulldogs took an early advantage when 30th-ranked Niclas Braun and Giovanni Oradini notched their ninth-straight win with a 6-4 triumph over Tennessee's Timo Stodder and Adam Walton on court 2. At the No. 2 doubles position this season, the Bulldogs are now a perfect 13-0.
The Volunteers evened up the doubles count shortly thereafter with an identical 6-4 win on court 3 by Nicaise Muamba and Andrew Rogers against MSU's 65th-ranked Florian Broska and Trevor Foshey. The doubles point all came down to court 1.
At the No. 1 spot, MSU's 58th-ranked duo of Nuno Borges and Strahinja Rakic were in the midst of a nip-and-tuck battle with UT's No. 15 Preston Touliatos and Luis Valero. Down 5-3, Borges and Rakic took the next three games to go up 6-5 before UT forced a 6-all tiebreaker. The tiebreaker, much like the match, was back-and-forth. Touliatos and Valero led 4-2 before Borges and Rakic tied it up at 4-all. The Volunteer tandem was then able to win the final three points to clinch doubles for UT. Tennessee led 1-0 at intermission.
In singles, two Bulldogs finished rather quickly to help put the Bulldogs on the board. First, on court 3, the 86th-ranked Rakic took a 6-3, 6-3 victory against Walton to win his third straight match. Moments later, Braun notched his sixth consecutive win with a 6-3, 6-1 triumph against Touliatos on court 4. Braun has now won 10 of his last 11 singles decisions—all in dual match play.
But the remaining four matches would all take three sets to decide and were all nip-and-tuck.
MSU's third-ranked Borges put the Bulldogs ahead 3-1 with a hard-fought 7-6(1), 5-7, 6-4 triumph against UT's No. 16 Stodder on court 1. The match was about as back-and-forth as it could have gotten, despite Borges dominating the first set breaker, 7-1. Stodder fought back to even it up in the second before Borges closed out the match by winning the final two games, including a break of Stodder's serve in the final game.
The Vols tightened the gap to 3-2 MSU when Luca Wiedenmann notched a three-set win of his own on court 6, downing State's Foshey 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.
The Maroon and White got the win it needed on court 2, when the 13th-ranked Oradini held at 40-30 to complete his comeback effort and defeat UT's Valero by a 4-6, 7-5, 6-3 mark. Oradini finished 4-0 in singles and doubles combined for the weekend.
MSU's Florian Broska was in the heat of a tight battle with Scott Jones on court 5 when the match was stopped. Broska rallied to take the first set 7-5 before Jones took a 7-6(2) win in the second frame. Jones led 5-3 in the third when the match was suspended.
MSU improved to 20-34 against Tennessee since 1971 but has now won four in a row in the series and seven of the last 10 meetings. Against ranked opponents under Roberts, the Bulldogs are now 43-36 overall (8-1 this season).
Next Up For MSU…
After returning from Knoxville, the Bulldogs will get ready to host their final home match of the regular season on Friday, when MSU will take on 46th-ranked Arkansas (10-11, 3-6 SEC) at 3 p.m. at the A.J. Pitts Tennis Centre. Admission to the match is free.
For more information on the Mississippi State men's tennis program, follow "HailStateMT" on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
No. 12 Mississippi State 4, No. 19 Tennessee 2
Barksdale Tennis Stadium
Knoxville, Tenn.
April 1, 2018
Doubles
1. #15 Preston Touliatos/Luis Valero (UT) def. #58 Nuno Borges/Strahinja Rakic (MSU) 7-6(4)
2. #30 Niclas Braun/Giovanni Oradini (MSU) def. Timo Stodder/Adam Walton (UT) 6-4
3. Nicaise Muamba/Andrew Rogers (UT) def. #65 Florian Broska/Trevor Foshey (MSU) 6-4
Order of finish: 2, 3, 1
Singles
1. #3 Nuno Borges (MSU) def. #16 Timo Stodder (UT) 7-6(1), 5-7, 6-4
2. #13 Giovanni Oradini (MSU) def. Luis Valero (UT) 4-6, 7-5, 6-3
3. #86 Strahinja Rakic (MSU) def. Adam Walton (UT) 6-3, 6-3
4. Niclas Braun (MSU) def. Preston Touliatos (UT) 6-3, 6-1
5. Florian Broska (MSU) vs. Scott Jones (UT) 7-5, 6-7(2), 3-5 (susp.)
6. Luca Weidenmann (UT) def. Trevor Foshey (MSU) 3-6, 6-4, 6-4
Order of finish: 3, 4, 1, 6, 2
Players Mentioned
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
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