Mississippi State
Georgia
MSU Men’s Tennis Drops 4-1 Decision To No. 19 Georgia In ITA Kick-Off Opener
January 25, 2020 | Men's Tennis
by Graham Murphree, Student Assistant/Communications
STARKVILLE – A valiant effort to battle it out for the doubles point as well as in singles play fell short Saturday afternoon as the Mississippi State men's tennis team dropped a gritty 4-1 decision to No. 19 Georgia in the 2020 ITA Kick-Off Weekend opener at State's A.J. Pitts Tennis Centre.
MSU (4-2) will play the consolation match of the Kickoff Weekend Sunday morning at 10 a.m. CT, meeting No. 22 Oklahoma (3-2) at the Pitts Tennis Centre. Following that matchup, Georgia (2-0) will face No. 15 South Carolina (4-0) in the championship match not before 1 p.m. CT.
UGA gained the early advantage, coming out strong to claim the first two doubles courts complete to go up early 1-0.
Court 1 finished first with Georgia's Trent Bryde and Tyler Zink downing Florian Broska and Nicolas Ocana 6-1. The battle on court 2 would finish soon after with the 17th-ranked UGA duo of Blake Croyder and Phillip Henning fending off MSU's Giovanni Oradini and Stedman Strickland 6-4 at No. 2. At the time of the clinch, play was suspended on court 3 with MSU's Alberto Colas and Gregor Ramskogler up 5-4 on Erik Grevelius and Robert Loeb.
In singles action, Georgia took four first sets to continue its momentum, and closed out two of those matches in straight sets to go up 3-0. On court 3, Zink defeated State's Ramskogler 6-3, 6-2 before UGA's 88th-ranked Croyder defeated Ocana 6-3, 6-1 at No. 6.
The MSU junior Broska provided the highlight of the day for the homestanding Bulldogs, ousting Georgia's 12th-ranked Henning in an inspired 6-4, 6-2 victory at the No. 2 spot. The triumph was the highest-ranked victory of Broska's Bulldog career.
Georgia then closed out the team win when No. 57 Bryde completed a 6-3, 6-2 win over MSU's No. 15 Oradini at the top position.
The two remaining matches were suspended with UGA's Grevelius leading 6-4, 4-4 over MSU's 101st-ranked rookie Davide Tortora at No. 4. The State freshman Colas had just gone up early in the third set over UGA's Loeb at No. 5, leading 3-6, 6-3, 1-0.
No. 19 Georgia 4, Mississippi State 1
January 25, 2020
Starkville, Miss. - A.J. Pitts Tennis Centre
Doubles
1. Trent Bryde/Tyler Zink (UGA) def. Florian Broska/Nicolas Ocana (MSU) 6-1
2. #17 Blake Croyder/Phillip Henning (UGA) def. Giovanni Oradini/Stedman Strickland (MSU) 6-4
3. Alberto Colas/Gregor Ramskogler (MSU) vs. Robert Loeb/Erik Grevelius (UGA) 5-4 (susp.)
Order of finish: 1,2
Singles
1. #57 Trent Bryde (UGA) def. #15 Giovanni Oradini (MSU) 6-3, 6-2
2. Florian Broska (MSU) def. #12 Phillip Henning (UGA) 6-4, 6-2
3. Tyler Zink (UGA) def. Gregor Ramskogler (MSU) 6-3, 6-2
4. Erik Grevelius (UGA) vs. #101 Davide Tortora (MSU) 6-4, 4-4 (susp.)
5. Alberto Colas (MSU) vs. Robert Loeb (UGA) 3-6, 6-3, 1-0 (susp.)
6. t#88 Blake Croyder def. Nicolas Ocana (MSU) 6-3, 6-1
Order of finish: 3,6,2,1
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Players Mentioned
