No. 6 Bulldogs Take Down No. 7 LSU in Dominant Road Performance
March 22, 2026 | Men's Tennis
BATON ROUGE, La. – No. 6 Mississippi State delivered a dominant performance on the road Sunday, defeating No. 7 LSU 6-1 at the LSU Tennis Complex to hand the Tigers their fourth loss of the season and just their second at home.
LSU struck first in doubles, taking a 6-2 win on court one, but the Bulldogs responded with victories on courts two and three. The duo of Mario Martinez Serrano and Michal Novansky evened the doubles point with a 6-3 win before Niccolo Baroni and Bryan Hernandez Cortes clinched the point with another 6-3 victory.
Mississippi State carried that momentum into singles, quickly extending its lead. No. 123 Raphael Vaksmann put the Bulldogs up 2-0 with a decisive 6-4, 6-1 win on court five. No. 6 Petar Jovanovic followed with a ranked victory over No. 24 Erik Arutiunian, winning 7-6 (2), 6-3 on court two to make it 3-0.
No. 62 Mario Martinez Serrano secured the clinch for Mississippi State, rallying for a 3-6, 6-4, 6-2 victory on court four to give the Bulldogs an insurmountable 4-0 advantage.
LSU picked up its lone point on court three, but the Bulldogs continued to dominate the remaining matches. No. 35 Benito Sanchez Martinez battled back after dropping the first set to defeat No. 29 Olaf Pieczkowski 6(6)-7, 6-4, 10-3 on court one.
Bryan Hernandez Cortes capped the day with a three-set win on court six, 6-1, 6(5)-7, 7-6(3), pushing the final score to 6-1.
RecordsÂ
No. 6 Mississippi State (16-3, 7-2 SEC)
No. 7 LSU (20-4, 6-3 SEC)
Match NotesÂ
• Mississippi State handed LSU its fourth loss of the season and second at home
• Bulldogs won five of six singles matches
• MSU secured the doubles point with wins on courts two and three
• Four Bulldogs earned singles wins in straight sets or tiebreak finishes
• Mississippi State secured its third top-10 win of the season
Up NextÂ
No. 6 Mississippi State plays host to the Ole Miss Rebels Friday, March 27th at at 5 p.m. CT. Â
Match Results
Doubles
1. Loncarevic/Markovic (LSU) def. No. 4 Jovanovic/Sanchez Martinez (MSU) – 6-2
2. Martinez Serrano/Novansky (MSU) def. No. 42 Arutiunian/Ponce De Leon (LSU) – 6-3
3. Baroni/Hernandez Cortes (MSU) def. Kohlmann De Freitas/Pieczkowski (LSU) – 6-3*
*Mississippi State won the doubles point
Order of Finish: 2, 1, 3*
Singles
1. No. 35 Sanchez Martinez (MSU) def. No. 29 Pieczkowski (LSU) – 6(6)-7, 6-4, 10-3
2. No. 6 Jovanovic (MSU) def. No. 24 Arutiunian (LSU) – 7-6(2), 6-3
3. Loncarevic (LSU) def. No. 68 Baroni (MSU) – 1-6, 6-2, 6-4
4. No. 62 Martinez Serrano (MSU) def. Vasquez (LSU) – 3-6, 6-4, 6-2*
5. No. 123 Vaksmann (MSU) def. Markovic (LSU) – 6-4, 6-1
6. No. 97 Hernandez Cortes (MSU) def. Ponce De Leon (LSU) – 6-1, 6(5)-7, 7-6(3)
Order of Finish: 5, 2, 4*, 3, 1, 6
*Clincher
For more Information on the Bulldog women's tennis program, visit Hailstate.com or search for "HailstateMT" on X, Instagram and Facebook.Â
– HailState.com –Â
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LSU struck first in doubles, taking a 6-2 win on court one, but the Bulldogs responded with victories on courts two and three. The duo of Mario Martinez Serrano and Michal Novansky evened the doubles point with a 6-3 win before Niccolo Baroni and Bryan Hernandez Cortes clinched the point with another 6-3 victory.
Mississippi State carried that momentum into singles, quickly extending its lead. No. 123 Raphael Vaksmann put the Bulldogs up 2-0 with a decisive 6-4, 6-1 win on court five. No. 6 Petar Jovanovic followed with a ranked victory over No. 24 Erik Arutiunian, winning 7-6 (2), 6-3 on court two to make it 3-0.
No. 62 Mario Martinez Serrano secured the clinch for Mississippi State, rallying for a 3-6, 6-4, 6-2 victory on court four to give the Bulldogs an insurmountable 4-0 advantage.
LSU picked up its lone point on court three, but the Bulldogs continued to dominate the remaining matches. No. 35 Benito Sanchez Martinez battled back after dropping the first set to defeat No. 29 Olaf Pieczkowski 6(6)-7, 6-4, 10-3 on court one.
Bryan Hernandez Cortes capped the day with a three-set win on court six, 6-1, 6(5)-7, 7-6(3), pushing the final score to 6-1.
RecordsÂ
No. 6 Mississippi State (16-3, 7-2 SEC)
No. 7 LSU (20-4, 6-3 SEC)
Match NotesÂ
• Mississippi State handed LSU its fourth loss of the season and second at home
• Bulldogs won five of six singles matches
• MSU secured the doubles point with wins on courts two and three
• Four Bulldogs earned singles wins in straight sets or tiebreak finishes
• Mississippi State secured its third top-10 win of the season
Up NextÂ
No. 6 Mississippi State plays host to the Ole Miss Rebels Friday, March 27th at at 5 p.m. CT. Â
Match Results
Doubles
1. Loncarevic/Markovic (LSU) def. No. 4 Jovanovic/Sanchez Martinez (MSU) – 6-2
2. Martinez Serrano/Novansky (MSU) def. No. 42 Arutiunian/Ponce De Leon (LSU) – 6-3
3. Baroni/Hernandez Cortes (MSU) def. Kohlmann De Freitas/Pieczkowski (LSU) – 6-3*
*Mississippi State won the doubles point
Order of Finish: 2, 1, 3*
Singles
1. No. 35 Sanchez Martinez (MSU) def. No. 29 Pieczkowski (LSU) – 6(6)-7, 6-4, 10-3
2. No. 6 Jovanovic (MSU) def. No. 24 Arutiunian (LSU) – 7-6(2), 6-3
3. Loncarevic (LSU) def. No. 68 Baroni (MSU) – 1-6, 6-2, 6-4
4. No. 62 Martinez Serrano (MSU) def. Vasquez (LSU) – 3-6, 6-4, 6-2*
5. No. 123 Vaksmann (MSU) def. Markovic (LSU) – 6-4, 6-1
6. No. 97 Hernandez Cortes (MSU) def. Ponce De Leon (LSU) – 6-1, 6(5)-7, 7-6(3)
Order of Finish: 5, 2, 4*, 3, 1, 6
*Clincher
For more Information on the Bulldog women's tennis program, visit Hailstate.com or search for "HailstateMT" on X, Instagram and Facebook.Â
– HailState.com –Â
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Players Mentioned
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