Mississippi State
Georgia
No. 41 MSU Drops Gritty 5-2 Affair At No. 10 Georgia
March 08, 2020 | Men's Tennis
by Graham Murphree, Student Assistant/Communications
ATHENS, GAÂ -Â The 41st-ranked Mississippi State men's tennis team fell in a tight 5-2 affair to No. 10 Georgia in an afternoon affair at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex Sunday.
State (9-6, 1-2 SEC) fell to Georgia (9-2, 2-1 SEC) for the first time since 2017 in SEC play, the Bulldogs having taken the last two meetings between the teams in conference action prior to Sunday's matchup.
"Today was a great college tennis match," MSU head coach Matt Roberts said. "We competed at a very high level and took one step in the right direction. Our team is learning how to compete and problem solve. We gave ourselves very good opportunities to beat a top 10 team on the road. We will build off of this. The boys are ready to train hard this week for three home matches this weekend."
In doubles action to open the match, Bulldogs Giovanni Oradini and Stedman Strickland dropped a close 6-4 affair to Georgia's No. 26 Blake Croyder and Phillip Henning at the No. 2 position. Finishing next would be the No. 15 UGA duo of Trent Bryde and Tyler Zink as they defeated the 43rd-ranked MSU pair of Florian Broska and Nicolas Ocana 7-5 at No. 1 in another tight battle. At the time of the clinch, the No. 75 State duo of Alberto Colas and Gregor Ramskogler trailed 2-1 in a tiebreaker to Erik Grevelius and Robert Loeb on court 3.
In singles play, MSU would come out strong by claiming four first sets to try and rally for the win, and the Bulldogs would come very close to doing just that. The first three matches ended in straight sets, with State claiming two of those to knot the match at 2-2. Court 3 would finish first with UGA's No. 88 Croyder defeating Ramskogler 6-1, 6-2.
State then notched straight-set victories at the No. 5 and 6 positions. The MSU true freshman Colas would continue his successful weekend by defeating Georgia's Baptiste Anselmo 7-6(4), 6-0 on court 5. Following him would be fellow true freshman Isaac Becroft at No. 6, where he bested UGA's Loeb 6-4, 7-5 to tie the match.
"I was impressed with our two freshmen at 5 and 6 today" Roberts said. "Isaac was down 5-3 in the second set and came back to win 7-5. He is building himself and believing with every opportunity. Alberto showed a lot of guts being down 4-1 in the first set breaker to come back and win it 7-4."
The final three matches would all go to a third set to decide the match.
Finishing next would be the No. 2 spot where Georgia's No. 80 Zink held off MSU's 89th-ranked Broska in a tight three-set affair 5-7, 6-1, 6-4. Georgia then got the match-clinching point on court 1 when No. 12 Bryde downed State's No. 43 Oradini 6-3, 2-6, 6-2.
"Gio and Flo did a great job on the top courts competing and putting themselves in positive situations," Roberts said. "We rely a lot on those two guys as they are our only two upperclassmen and, today, they gave themselves some very good chances."
The remaining match at No. 4 was played out. UGA's Grevelius would go the distance with State rookie Davide Tortora, claiming the match in a 2-6, 6-4, 7-6(4) decision.
Next Up For MSU …
A battle against another highly-ranked team is next on the docket for MSU, as the Bulldogs return home to host No. 12 Texas A&M this Friday, March 13, at 3 p.m. CT. State will also welcome No. 44 LSU and Jacksonville State in a doubleheader this Sunday, March 15, in 12 p.m. and 4 p.m. starts.
No. 10 Georgia 5, No. 41 Mississippi State 2
March 8, 2020
Dan Magill Tennis Complex- Athens, Ga.
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Doubles
1. #15 Trent Bryde/Tyler Zink (UGA) def. #43 Florian Broska/Nicolas Ocana (MSU) 7-5
2. #26 Blake Croyder/Phillip Henning (UGA) def. Giovanni Oradini/Stedman Strickland (MSU) 6-4
3. #75 Alberto Colas/Gregor Ramskogler (MSU) vs. Erik Grevlius/Robert Loeb (UGA) 6-6 (1-2) (susp.)
Order of finish: 2,1
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Singles
1. #12 Trent Bryde (UGA) def. #43 Giovanni Oradini (MSU) 6-3, 2-6, 6-2
2. #80 Tyler Zink (UGA) def. #89 Florian Broska (MSU) 5-7, 6-1, 6-4
3. #88 Blake Croyder (UGA) def. Gregor Ramskogler (MSU) 6-1, 6-2
4. Erik Grevelius (UGA) def. Davide Tortora (MSU) 2-6, 6-4, 7-6(4)
5. Alberto Colas (MSU) def. Baptiste Anselmo (UGA) 7-6(4), 6-0
6. Isaac Becroft (MSU) def. Robert Loeb (UGA) 6-4, 7-5
Order of finish: 3,5,6,2,1,4
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