MSU Sweeps Opening Day Of Rice Invitational

HOUSTON – Mississippi State women's tennis capped off an undefeated day of action on Friday, finishing the opening day of the Rice Fall Invitational 6-0.

After a rain delay to begin the day, Jayna Clemens and Gianna Oboniye began the Bulldogs' big day by taking down UT Arlington's Iona Dumitrescu and Nika Novikova 6-4 in doubles action. Emma Cohen and Alessia Tagliente earned the second doubles win by blanking Anushka Ashar and Valentia Ponce Serrano of Rice 6-0.

MSU also saw success in singles play earning four more wins. Clemens faced Novikova and cruised to a dominate victory 6-0, 6-0. Cohen earned a win over an SEC foe, topping LSU's Carina Holguin 6-1, 6-2. After dropping her opening set 1-6, Oboniye battled to victory by winning the next two sets 6-3, 6-3 over Oklahoma's Salakthip Ounmang. Taglinete capped the day by taking down Valeriia Ivanovskaia of UT Arlington 6-4, 6-2.

Cohen, Clemens, Oboniye and Tagliente will look to continue momentum into Saturday with two rounds of doubles starting at 10:00 a.m. followed by one round of singles play.

In the second round of doubles action, Clemens and Oboniye square off against host Rice's Saara Orav and Nithesa Selvera. Depending on the result, they'll face either Baylor's Nanaka Sato and Brooke Thompson or Houston's Gabriela Cortes and Valeriia Krokhotina in their second match on Saturday. Cohen and Tagliente battle Ivanovskaia and Maria Aroz-Gosn of UT Arlington followed by UTRGV's Hitakamya Singh Narwal and Valentina Urraco.

After a brief break, the Bulldogs square off in singles play. Oboniye is set to face Darya Schwartzman of Rice, Tagliente takes on UTRGV's Yaiza Vazquez, Clemens battles Valentina Ponce Serrano of Rice and Cohen takes on UTRGV's Rhea Makesar.

Rice Fall Invitational
George R. Brown Tennis Center | Houston, Texas
Nov. 8, 2024

Doubles
First Round
Flight 2 – Jayna Clemens/Gianna Oboniye (MSU) def. Iona Dumitrescu/Nika Novikova (UT Arlington) 6-4
Flight 3 – Emma Cohen/Alessia Tagliente (MSU) def. Anushka Ashar/Valentia Ponce Serrano (Rice) 6-0

Singles
First Round:
Flight 1 – Gianna Oboniye (MSU) def. Salakthip Ounmang (Oklahoma) 1-6, 6-3, 6-3
Flight 4 – Alessia Tagliente (MSU) def. Valeriia Ivanovskaia (UT Arlington) 6-4, 6-2
Flight 5 – Jayna Clemens (MSU) def. Nika Novikova (UT Arlington) 6-0, 6-0
Flight 6 – Emma Cohen (MSU) def. Carina Holguin (LSU) 6-1, 6-2

For more Information on the Bulldog women's tennis program, visit Hailstate.com or search for "HailstateWT" on X, Instagram and Facebook.

Mississippi State University Athletics

MSU Sweeps Opening Day Of Rice Invitational

Players Mentioned

Jayna Clemens

Emma Cohen

Gianna Oboniye

Alessia Tagliente

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