MSU Dominates Alabama State, Advances in NCAA Team Championship
STARKVILLE, Miss. (MSU Athletics) – In front of a stellar crowd at the A.J. Pitts Tennis Centre, No. 7 Mississippi State’s urgency from the first point led to a strong showing in its NCAA First Round match against Alabama State, blanking the three-time SWAC champions 4-0 on Friday afternoon at the A.J. Pitts Tennis Centre.
MSU will take on two-time Sun Belt champion South Alabama (19-6), who upset No. 40 Tulane in Friday’s first match, at 10:30 a.m. CT on Saturday. Match time was moved up due to weather forecasts for the day. Fans are encouraged to continue to monitor “@HailStateMT” on Twitter and HailState.com/MensTennis for further updates regarding Saturday’s match.
The two-time SEC Tournament champion Bulldogs (23-3) matched their win total from a year ago with the victory – also their 13th straight – over the Hornets (12-10) Friday, while improving to 20-4 in NCAA opening-round play all-time. State has reached at least the second round in nine straight NCAA Tournament appearances, while earning its 13th shutout in the team championship.
“Today was one of those matches where, with a big crowd and being the first round in the NCAA Tournament, you have to be sharp,” head coach Matt Roberts said. “You have to put on a good show, you have to have good energy and our guys did that today. Give credit to Alabama State on getting to this point and having a good year. [Head Coach] Anuk [Christiansz] does a great job with his team. It was a beautiful day with a great crowd, and we love playing in front of these awesome fans and can’t wait to play in front of them again tomorrow in the second round.”
State’s 32nd-ranked Niclas Braun and Giovanni Oradini quickly defeated ASU’s Chris Andre and Juan Rodriguez in a 6-0 decision on court 2 to give the Bulldogs an early advantage in doubles. The win marked the pair’s 11th in the last 12 decisions, including its fourth in a row. Braun and Oradini – who earned an at-large bid into the NCAA Doubles Championship – hold a team-best 27 wins as a tandem in 2018-19.
The Hornets would surge back on courts 1 and 3 to make things close, but not for long, as MSU’s third-ranked tandem of Nuno Borges and Strahinja Rakic posted a 6-4 point-clinching win at No. 1 to give the Bulldogs a 1-0 lead. It was a team-best 11th doubles point clincher for Borges and Rakic, who earned an automatic bid into the NCAA Doubles Championship in May. Trevor Foshey and Gregor Ramskogler led 5-4 at the clinch on court 3.
That momentum carried over into singles, with the Maroon and White claiming all six first sets that led to identical 6-1, 6-2 victories on even-numbered courts.
The MSU freshman Ramskogler upped State’s lead to 2-0 when he ousted ASU’s Alejo Calvis on court 6 to remain unbeaten (4-0) this spring in singles. Moments later, Braun made it 3-0 by taking down ASU’s Fernandez on court 4. Braun’s victory marked his fifth straight in singles and the ninth win in his last 11 decisions.
On court 2, the 61st-ranked junior Oradini delivered the clincher – his second straight in the first round – by earning a 6-1, 6-2 victory over Andre to move his team into the second round.
At the time of Oradini’s clincher, three other Bulldogs were up a set and led in their second sets. Rakic was up 5-1 serving for his match on court 3, while the top-ranked Borges and Florian Broska both led early in their second frames.
Next Up for MSU…
For the second consecutive season, the Bulldogs will square off against South Alabama in the second round. The third-seeded Jaguars upset 40th-ranked Tulane, 4-1, in the first round on Friday. Match time has been moved up to 10:30 a.m. CT Saturday morning due to weather forecasts for the day. Fans are encouraged to continue to monitor “@HailStateMT” on Twitter and HailState.com/MensTennis for further updates regarding Saturday’s match.
MSU is 14-7 against USA and has taken eight of the last 10 matchups with the Jaguars. The teams last battled in Starkville in last year’s NCAA Second Round, with the Bulldogs posting a 4-0 triumph to advance to the Round of 16.
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