Mississippi State
South Carolina
No. 15 State Falls In SEC Quarterfinals
April 19, 2024 | Men's Tennis
BATON ROUGE, La. – No. 15 Mississippi State grabbed early momentum on Friday by clinching the doubles point in their opening match of the SEC Championships.
But the Bulldogs were unable to sustain the momentum and succumbed to 24th-ranked South Carolina 4-2 in the quarterfinals after receiving a double-bye as the No. 3 seed.
MSU's Carles Hernandez and Dusan Milanovic began the afternoon by beating Casey Hoole and Sean Daryabeigi 6-2. The Gamecocks took the next doubles match leaving the deciding point up to Court 1. That's where the 14th-ranked Bulldog duo of Petar Jovanovic and Benito Sanchez Martinez knocked off Toby Samuel and James Story 6-4 to clinch their fourth-consecutive doubles point.
State has now won six-straight doubles points with Jovanovic and Sanchez Martinez clinching five of those.
The early advantage, however, proved to be short lived. South Carolina – the No. 11 seed in the tournament – won six first sets, including three tiebreakers.
The Gamecocks won the first three singles matches before Roberto Ferrer Guimaraes battled back to beat Carter Morgan 3-6, 7-6(3), 6-1 to keep the Bulldogs' hopes alive.
But Lucas da Silva was able to edge Sanchez Martinez in two tiebreaker sets 7-6(6), 7-6(5) to secure the win for South Carolina (16-13). When the Gamecocks clinched, Hernandez was up 5-4 in his third set against Daryabeigi.
Mississippi State (17-7) now awaits its postseason fate. The selection show for the NCAA Championships will be held on April 29 at 5 p.m.
No. 24 South Carolina 4, No. 15 Mississippi State 2LSU Tennis Complex | Baton Rouge, La.
April 19, 2024
Doubles
1. No. 14 Petar Jovanovic/Benito Sanchez Martinez (MSU) def. Toby Samuel/James Story (SC) 6-4
2. Jelani Sarr/Lucas da Silva (SC) def. Michal Novansky/Nemanja Malesevic (MSU) 6-3
3. Carles Hernandez/Dusan Milanovic (MSU) def. Casey Hoole/Sean Daryabeigi (SC) 6-2
Order of finish: (3,2,1)
Singles
1. No. 15 Toby Samuel (SC) def. No. 56 Nemanja Malesevic (MSU) 6-1, 6-2
2. James Story (SC) def. No. 46 Petar Jovanovic (MSU) 7-6(2), 6-4
3. Carles Hernandez (MSU) vs. Sean Daryabeigi (SC) 6-7(2), 6-0, 5-4, unfinished
4. Lucas da Silva (SC) def. Benito Sanchez Martinez (MSU) 7-6(6), 7-6(5)
5. Jelani Sarr (SC) def. Dusan Milanovic (MSU) 6-3, 3-6, 6-3
6. Roberto Ferrer Guimaraes (MSU) def. Carter Morgan (SC) 3-6, 7-6(3), 6-1
Order of finish: (1,5,2,6,4)
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Players Mentioned
