Mississippi State
Ole Miss
No. 13 Bulldogs Blank Ole Miss, 7-0
March 29, 2024 | Men's Tennis
STARKVILLE – No. 13 Mississippi State secured its third-straight ranked win over an SEC opponent Friday evening by blanking 56th-ranked Ole Miss 7-0.
The Bulldogs (14-5, 6-2 SEC) have been playing an exceptional brand of tennis lately and have won nine of their last 11 matches overall and are currently tied for third in the conference standings.
"We've been talking about taking the hard route versus the easy route," said head coach Matt Roberts. "Some of the guys are even writing that on their shoes 'hard route'. You have a choice to go easy or go hard. I think after that Kentucky match, we've really embraced that analogy and have just been pushing ourselves to embrace being uncomfortable when things get hard and knowing that's how we're going to get better. We're doing that on all six courts and feeding off each other's energy."
On Friday, MSU felt pretty good about knocking off its in-state rival for the first time since 2019 and snapping a three-match skid to the Rebels. Doing so in such convincing fashion made the win even sweeter.
"That felt great after three years," said senior Carles Hernandez. "We take it as a normal match, but at the end of the day it's a rivalry so there's some tension there. So that felt great to win that in my fourth year here at home. It felt amazing and the crowd was electrifying."
It was Ole Miss (9-10, 2-6 SEC) that claimed the first match of the day in doubles. But the Bulldogs bounced right back as Hernandez and Dusan Milanovic downed Isac Stromberg and Noah Schlagenhauf 6-4.
Mere moments later, State's 37th-ranked pair Petar Jovanovic and Benito Sanchez Martinez secured the doubles point with their 6-3 win over No. 65 Nikola Slavic and Lukas Engelhardt on Court 1.
"I feel like we showed a lot of maturity in doubles," said senior Nemanja Malesevic. "I think that doubles point was huge because it took a lot of weight off our backs and we were able to play more free. It was really important to build our confidence."
With the doubles point claimed, the Bulldogs went to work in singles. Milanovic made short work of Engelhardt 6-2, 6-3 before Sanchez Martinez notched a 6-2, 6-4 victory over Schlagenhauf.
Jovanovic – ranked 39th in singles – clinched the match on Court 2 with his 7-5, 6-1 triumph over John Hallquist Lithen. It was the first match-clincher of the season for the reigning SEC Player of the Week.
No. 118 Malesevic kept the momentum going for Mississippi State with his 6-2, 6-4 victory over 62nd-ranked Slavic.
"I'd lost to him twice and both times I felt like I beat myself because of the rivalry every year," Malesevic said. "All those things got to me. I still had those thoughts and did a really good job of recognizing them and coming back to what I need to be thinking about and playing one point at a time and being as tough as I can. I'm super proud of how I overcame those mental barriers that I had today."
Hernandez pushed the advantage to 6-0 with his 6-4, 7-5 victory against Stromberg. It was also the 100th career win for Hernandez combing his singles and doubles success.
"I'm proud of myself, I feel like I played really tough," Hernandez said. "My opponent played really well, and was defending pretty good. I just had to be patient and I think I did a great job."
Roberto Ferrer Guimaraes was the lone court that went to a third set. But the Bulldog freshman completed the sweep and earned his first SEC win by rallying past Carson Baker 4-6, 6-4, 1-0[6].
"Today, the boys just went to work and trusted in their games," Roberts said. "They stayed present. Doubles was tricky. Ole Miss made a push back and I thought we responded really well late and played well on all six courts. We made a couple of adjustments here and there and that was key to get these guys."
MSU continues its homestand on Easter as it hosts No. 21 Alabama at 1 p.m. The second match on Sunday that originally scheduled against 73rd-ranked Troy was canceled.
No. 13 Mississippi State 7, No. 56 Ole Miss 0A.J. Pitts Tennis Centre | Starkville, Miss.
March 29, 2024
Doubles
1. No. 37 Petar Jovanovic/Benito Sanchez Martinez (MSU) def. No. 65 Nikola Slavic/Lukas Engelhardt (OM) 6-3
2. Carson Baker/John Hallquist Lithen (OM) def. Nemanja Malesevic/Michal Novansky (MSU) 6-3
3. Carles Hernandez/Dusan Milanovic (MSU) def. Isac Stromberg/Noah Schlagenhauf (OM) 6-4
Order of finish: (2,3,1)
Singles
1. No. 118 Nemanja Malesevic (MSU) def. No. 62 Nikola Slavic (OM) 6-2, 6-4
2. No. 39 Petar Jovanovic (MSU) def. John Hallquist Lithen (OM) 7-5, 6-1
3. Carles Hernandez (MSU) def. Isac Stromberg (OM) 6-4, 7-5
4. Dusan Milanovic (MSU) def. Lukas Engelhardt (OM) 6-2, 6-3
5. Benito Sanchez Martinez (MSU) def. Noah Schlagenhauf (OM) 6-2, 6-4
6. Roberto Ferrer Guimaraes (MSU) def. Carson Baker (OM) 4-6, 6-4, 1-0[6]
Order of finish: (4,5,2,1,3,6)
For more information on the Bulldog men's tennis program, visit HailState.com or search for "HailStateMT" on X, Instagram and Facebook.
Players Mentioned
