MSU?s Cutura Captures Second-Straight SEC Weekly Honor
STARKVILLE, Miss. – Continuing his tear through SEC play and leading Mississippi State men’s tennis back into the ITA Top 25 this week, Mate Cutura has been named SEC Player of the Week for the second-straight time, the league announced Wednesday.
“I’m extremely happy to receive this honor two weeks in a row,” Cutura said. “I’m just very glad I can help my teammates and coaches and that all the hard work is paying off. It’s also huge motivation for the future that other people are noticing the results as well.”
The efforts from the Posusje, Bosnia and Herzegovina, native have the Bulldogs on a five-match winning streak and collecting wins in 10 of their last 12 contests.
Cutura was 4-0 on the weekend after picking up a pair of wins on the singles and doubles courts. His two singles win upped his winning streak to eight-straight matches and improved him to a league-best 8-0 in SEC play. His efforts landed him his first career ITA National Singles Ranking on Tuesday, coming in at No. 96.
The junior’s weekend started off with a three-set victory against Georgia’s No. 18 Nathan Pasha, the highest ranked win of his career and his third overall. All have come during his eight-match tear. Cutura’s victory helped MSU capture a 4-2 victory against No. 6 Georgia, State’s highest ranked win since taking down No. 4 UGA last season. The win was also MSU’s second win in the last two meetings with the Bulldogs from Georgia.
Cutura and his fellow Bulldogs also made some history against UGA, as State has defeated Kentucky, Tennessee and Georgia in the same season for the first time since 1996.
Against the No. 45 Gamecocks, Cutura put together a 6-2, 7-6(5) win against Andrew Schafer to clinch MSU’s fifth-straight win overall and sixth straight versus USC. The win also marked his third clinched match of the season.
On the doubles court, Cutura and Tassilo Schmid returned to their dominant ways, picking up a pair of wins, including the doubles point clincher against USC. Cutura and Schmid downed USC’s Thomas Mayronne and Sam Swank to seal State’s 1-0 lead to start the match. On Friday, the duo downed UGA’s Eric Diaz and Pasha to help set up State’s doubles-clinching win on court one.
Their efforts assisted the Bulldogs in capturing the doubles point for the 16th and 17th times this season. MSU is now 14-3 when winning the match’s opening point.
For the season, Cutura is 17-7 overall and 11-3 in dual matches. Along with his league-leading 8-0 SEC record, Cutura is also a perfect 7-0 in home matches. In doubles, Cutura is 15-5 and 11-3 in dual matches. As a duo, Cutura and Schmid improved to 14-4 for the year and 11-3 in dual matches.
“Once again, we are very excited to see the recognition Mate is receiving for all his hard work this year,” MSU coach Matt Roberts said. “He continues to focus on improving in the classroom and on the court. He has also been a great teammate and representative of Mississippi State and showing what MSU tennis is all about.”
Cutura and the 20th-ranked Bulldogs close out the 2015 regular season this weekend with a split of away and home matches. State will take on No. 21 Vanderbilt on Friday, April 10, in Nashville, Tenn., at 5 p.m. CT. The Bulldogs will cap the regular season at the A.J. Pitts Tennis Centre against No. 24 LSU Sunday, April 12, at 1 p.m., for their Senior Day in a match that was rescheduled from earlier in the season due to rain.
For more information on Mississippi State men’s tennis and updates, fans can follow the Bulldogs on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at HailStateMT.