Mississippi State
Florida
No. 24 Bulldogs Fall To No. 7 Gators Sunday Afternoon
March 14, 2021 | Men's Tennis
STARKVILLE – Despite a tight doubles point and some close first sets in singles, the 24th-ranked Mississippi State men's tennis team ultimately fell 7-0 to No. 7 Florida in an afternoon affair at MSU's A.J. Pitts Tennis Centre Sunday.
With the setback, State fell to 11-5, 2-4 in SEC action. Florida improved to 12-1 and remained undefeated in the league at 8-0. The Gators now hold a 38-19 all-time record against the Bulldogs in the series (since 1969). UF's victory Sunday broke a two-match MSU win streak in the series.
The Bulldogs would fight and grind for every point to start the day in doubles action, taking the last two courts to tiebreaks before Florida finally edged MSU to claim the opening point of the afternoon. Court 1 would wrap up first with the Gator tandem of Will Grant and Johannes Ingildsen downing the Bulldog duo of Florian Broska and Gregor Ramskogler 6-3.
It would then take a total of six match points between courts 2 and 3 before the Gators were finally able to secure the 1-0 lead. State battled Florida to fend off five match points at those two positions before forcing two tiebreakers to give itself a chance. Ultimately clinching the match for UF would be court 2, where the 45th-ranked tandem of Sam Riffice and Duarte Vale downed the Bulldog tandem of Nemanja Malesevic and Nicolas Ocana 7-6(4). At the time of the clinch, court 3 was knotted at 4-4 in the tiebreaker with MSU's Giovanni Oradini and Stedman Strickland – who had roared back from 5-0 and three service breaks down to force the breaker - battling UF's duo of Andy Andrade and Ben Shelton.
Florida would capitalize on that momentum shift from doubles, as the Gators claimed five of the six opening sets to open singles play.
Court 5 would conclude first where UF's Shelton downed MSU's Hernandez in 6-2, 6-0 fashion, extending Florida's lead to 2-0. Finishing up next would be court 2, where UF's eighth-ranked Riffice bested State's 36th-ranked Oradini 6-4, 6-2. Clinching the match for the Gators would be 68th-ranked Blaise Bicknell, who handed MSU's Colas a 6-3, 6-4 setback.
The remaining three courts would then be played out.
Next to conclude was the No. 3 spot, where the 85th-ranked Gator Andrade would best State's Malesevic 6-4, 6-1. Finishing soon after was court 6, where UF's Josh Goodger downed MSU's Ramskogler 6-3, 6-3. Wrapping up afternoon action was the top spot in the lineup, where Florida's 12th-ranked Vale rallied to edge the Bulldogs' 87th-ranked Broska 4-6, 6-4, 1-0(4).
Next upon on the slate, the Bulldogs will close out their current five-match homestand on Saturday, March 20, welcoming the Blazers of UAB in an 11 a.m. affair.
No. 7 Florida 7, No. 24 Mississippi State 0
March 14, 2021
Starkville, Miss. – A.J. Pitts Tennis Centre
Doubles
1. Will Grant/Johannus Ingildsen (UF) def. Florian Broska/Gregor Ramskogler (MSU 6-3
2. #45 Sam Riffice/Duarte Vale (UF) def. Nemanja Malesevic/Nicolas Ocana (MSU) 7-6(4)
3. Giovanni Oradini/Stedman Strickland (MSU) def. Andy Andrade/Ben Shelton (UF) 6-6 (4-4), susp.
Order of finish: 1,2
Singles
1. #12 Duarte Vale (UF) def. #87 Florian Broska (MSU) 4-6, 6-4, 1-0(4)
2. #8 Sam Riffice (UF) def. #36 Giovanni Oradini (MSU) 6-4, 6-2
3. #85 Andy Andrade (UF) def. Nemanja Malesevic (MSU) 6-4, 6-1
4. #68 Blaise Bicknell (UF) def. Alberto Colas (MSU) 6-3, 6-4
5. Ben Shelton (UF) def. Carles Hernandez (MSU) 6-2, 6-0
6. Josh Goodger (UF) def. Gregor Ramskogler (MSU) 6-3, 6-3
Order of finish: 5,2,4,3,6,1
For more information on the Mississippi State men's tennis program, follow "HailStateMT" on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
Players Mentioned
