Mississippi State
Florida State
No. 21 MSU Drops 5-2 Decision To Florida State In Tallahassee
January 19, 2020 | Men's Tennis
by Graham Murphree, Student Assistant/Communications
STARKVILLE – A gallant doubles point and a gritty three-set affair from sophomore Gregor Ramskogler was not quite enough for the No. 21 Mississippi State men's tennis team on Sunday, as the Bulldogs dropped a hard-fought 5-2 decision at Florida State.
MSU (4-1) gained the early lead on the Seminoles (5-0) as the Bulldogs took the doubles point convincingly to open the match with wins on court 2 and 3. MSU has taken doubles in all five of its matches this spring.
On court 2, Giovanni Oradini and Stedman Strickland showed their dominance as the Bulldog pair cruised over Lorris Pourroy and Marcus Walters 6-1. Finishing right behind them would be the duo of Alberto Colas and Ramskogler, notching a 6-2 triumph over Seminoles Bryn Nahrung and Richard Thongoana at No. 3. On court one, Florian Broska and Nicolas Ocana's match was suspended against FSU's Alex Knaff and Sebastian Arcila with the Seminole pair leading 4-3.
FSU took a commanding lead early on in singles, claiming wins at the bottom three positions in the lineup.
Court 5 would be the first to finish as Pourroy defeated State's rookie Colas 6-1, 6-2. Court 4 would follow next where FSU's Arcila defeated MSU's 101st-ranked freshman Davide Tortora 6-4, 6-1. The final victory in the Seminoles' early singles surge would come from court 6 as 92nd-ranked Rana Roop Bhullar downed the Bulldog true freshman Ocana 6-3, 6-1.
The top three positions would be completely different as all three went to third sets and the Bulldogs fought hard down the stretch to try and rally for the win.
State would get into the win column in the first of those matches complete, as Ramskogler pulled out a 6-1, 4-6, 6-3 victory over Walters at the No. 3 position, trimming FSU's lead to 3-2.
Then, in a similar marathon on court 2 between Broska and Juan Martin Jalif, State's junior had taken the first set before the Seminole edged him 7-5 in the second. Down 5-2 in the third, Broska would battle back to 5-5 before ultimately dropping the lengthy battle 1-6. 7-5, 7-5, which proved to be the match-clincher for Florida State.
The match on court 1 would be played out after the clincher, as MSU's 15th-ranked Oradini went three sets against FSU's Knaff. The two would stay neck-and-neck throughout the third set, with Knaff edging out the Bulldog senior 5-7, 7-6(2), 6-4.
Next Up For MSU…
The Bulldogs now return home to host the 2020 ITA Kickoff Weekend (Jan. 25-26), when No. 21 MSU welcomes No. 16 South Carolina, No. 19 Georgia and No. 22 Oklahoma to the A.J. Pitts Tennis Centre. State is slated to meet UGA in its first match of the event on Saturday, Jan. 25, at 1 p.m. CT.
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Florida State 5, No. 21 Mississippi State 2
January 19, 2020
Tallahassee, Fla. - Scott Speicher Tennis Center
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Doubles
!. Florian Broska/Nicolas Ocana (MSU) vs. Alex Knaff/Sebastian Arcila (FSU) 3-4 (susp.)
2. Giovanni Oradini/Stedman Strickland (MSU) def. Marcus Walters/Lorris Pourroy (FSU) 6-1
3. Alberto Colas/Gregor Ramskogler (MSU) def. Bryn Nahrung/Richard Thongoana (FSU) 6-2
Order of finish: 2,3,1
Singles
1. Alex Knaff (FSU) def. #15 Giovanni Oradini (MSU) 5-7, 7-6(2), 6-4
2. Juan Martin Jalif (FSU) def. Florian Broska (MSU) 1-6, 7-5, 7-5
3. Gregor Ramskogler (MSU) def. Marcus Walters (FSU) 6-1, 4-6, 6-3
4. Sebastian Arcila (FSU) def. #101 Davide Tortora 6-4, 6-1
5. Loris Pourroy (FSU) def. Alberto Colas (MSU) 6-1, 6-2
6. #92 Rana Roop Bhullar def. Nicolas Ocana (MSU) 6-3, 6-1
Order of finish: 5,4,6,3,2,1
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Players Mentioned
