Four Men?s Tennis Bulldogs Garner All-SEC Awards
STARKVILLE, Miss. – Adding to an already impressive first season under head coach Matt Roberts, the 18th-ranked Mississippi State men’s tennis team has landed four players on All-Southeastern Conference teams, the league announced Thursday.
Leading State is sophomore Florian Lakat, who earned 2015 All-SEC First Team laurels. This comes a year after being named 2014 SEC Freshman of the Year and being placed on the All-SEC Second and Freshman Teams. Joining him is Rishab Agarwal, Mate Cutura and Juan Cruz Estevarena, who all landed on the 2015 All-SEC Second Team. Estevarena also earned 2015 All-SEC Freshman Team honors.
State tied SEC co-champions Georgia and Texas A&M with the most players named to the 2015 All-SEC First & Second Teams. MSU has only had four players named to the All-SEC First & Second Teams in the same season three other times in its history.
For the season, Lakat is 17-9 and 14-6 in dual matches, with all spring matches coming at the No. 1 position. Six of Lakat’s wins have come against ranked foes, including a season best win against Georgia’s No. 31 Austin Smith, which clinched State’s upset of sixth-ranked UGA in Starkville. Lakat has been a mainstay in the ITA National Singles Rankings, reaching as high as No. 36. He currently stands at No. 60 in the country.
Lakat has been equally impressive on the doubles court, teaming up primarily with freshman Julian Cash to form the eighth-ranked squad in the nation. The duo is 16-6 this year, going 8-3 in the spring and 7-1 in conference play. Highlighting their season is a defeat of the nation’s No. 1 duo of Austin Smith and Ben Wagland, also of Georgia.
Agarwal earned his first-career SEC honor thanks to an extremely impressive sophomore campaign. Currently riding an 11-match winning streak, which is second best in the SEC, Agarwal leads the Bulldogs with 24-6 overall and 18-3 spring records. Agarwal hit overdrive in conference play, finishing the SEC slate as one of only three players in the league with a perfect 8-0 record. The Hyderabad, India, native saw nearly half of his wins against ITA Southern Region opponents, posting a perfect 13-0 record for the overall year.
Currently 18-11 this year and 12-7 this spring, Cutura earned All-SEC Second Team honors behind an impressive showing in singles and doubles, especially during conference play. Highlighting Cutura’s time on the singles court is an 8-2 posting in league play, which was highlighted by an eight-match winning streak. During that streak, Cutura took down three ranked foes while playing primarily at the No. 3 position. Most notable was an upset of Georgia’s No. 18 Nathan Pasha.
In doubles, Cutura teamed up with senior Tassilo Schmid to go 14-4 this spring and 6-3 in the SEC. The duo wasted no time in making their presence known, going 10-0 to start the dual match slate. Cutura and Schmid earned a pair of ranked wins and also reached as high as 46th in the ITA National Doubles Rankings.
Wrapping up State’s honorees is Estevarena, who brought home All-SEC Second Team and All-SEC Freshman Team laurels. Estevarena has been a solid contributor for the Bulldogs while playing mostly at the No. 2 position, posting a 14-9 overall record and going 10-5 in the spring. Estevarena began the spring winning eight of his first nine contests, including a three-set win against N.C. State’s No. 39 Nick Horton.
Estevarena split time this spring in doubles with Lakat and Robin Haden. After starting the season with four wins with Lakat, Estevarena teamed up with Haden and the tandem has gone 7-5 in dual matches, including a 6-3 SEC record.
“These are great honors for these guys and a testament to their hard work they put in during practice and in matches,” Roberts said. “We constantly talk about how hard work during practices and matches will translate into success and this shows that. I’m very proud of this team and ready to get rolling with NCAA play.”
MSU’s four All-SEC honorees and the remainder of the Bulldog squad now wait to hear their NCAA Team Championship destination. The NCAA Men’s Tennis Selection Show will air on Tuesday, April 28, at 4:30 p.m. CT, on NCAA.com. The NCAA First and Second Rounds will be held on May 8-10, with the finals being held in Waco, Texas, on May 14-19.
For more information on Mississippi State men’s tennis and updates, fans can follow the Bulldogs on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at HailStateMT.