Mississippi State
Rice
No. 23 MSU Men?s Tennis Dominates In Friday Doubleheader
January 31, 2015 | Men's Tennis
STARKVILLE, Miss. – Taking to the court twice, the 23rd-ranked Mississippi State men's tennis Bulldogs (5-1) swept a pair of matches in a Friday doubleheader at the A.J. Pitts Tennis Centre.
MSU was dominant from start to finish to kick off the weekend, picking up a 4-0 victory against the No. 75 Rice Owls (3-2) and closing the day with the same result against Alcorn State (0-1).
State kept their perfect records against the two squads all-time, improving to 4-0 against the Owls and 3-0 against the Braves. The win also marks the Bulldogs' 18th win in the last 20 matches at the Pitts Tennis Centre.
“We had a pretty good first match,” MSU coach Matt Roberts said. “We had a pretty solid performance in doubles and singles top to bottom was pretty solid. I thought we came out a little careless in doubles, but got back into the mode of taking care of business and finished strong in singles in the second match.”
Roberts' squad kicked off the day by picking up its second ranked win of the season against Rice. State dominated doubles play, starting out with a 6-2 victory at the top spot as Juan Cruz Estevarena and Florian Lakat downed RU's duo of Max Andrews and David Warren. MSU clinched on court two, as Mate Cutura and Tassilo Schmid defeated the Owls' tandem of Srikar Alla and Jamie Malik 6-2, improving to a perfect 4-0 on the year.
Play on court three was suspended at the clinch, with MSU's team of Rishab Agarwal and Robin Haden and RU's duo of Gustavo Gonzalez and Adam Gustafsson tied at 4-4.
Singles play proved to be a quick affair for the three victorious matches for MSU at the No. 1, No. 5 and No. 6 positions. Agarwal started off singles play with a quick 6-0, 6-1 victory against RU's Warren on court five. Lakat followed suit with his 20th-career dual match win, defeating Rice's Alla 6-2, 6-3 at the top spot.
The clinch came on court six, as Haden battled through a tiebreaker to earn a straight-sets victory, 6-2, 7-6(5) against the Owls' Gonzalez.
At the clinch, play on the remaining three courts was suspended. No. 63 Schmid was near victory, leading Rice's Malik 6-3, 5-4 on court two. Estevarena was close to splitting sets at three, as Rice's Andrews led 6-2, 2-5. Cutura was trailing the Owls' Gustafsson 6-3, 5-4 on court four.
MSU returned later in the day to face in-state foe Alcorn State. The Bulldogs again proved to be dominant in doubles, with Agarwal and Haden starting off the match with a 6-1 win against ASU's Garry Amor and Kilian Salgado at the No. 3 spot. Estevarena and Lakat clinched the opening point for State, downing the Braves' duo of Nikita Kostikov and Ernesto Santillan 6-2 on court one.
At the clinch, Cutura and Schmid were leading ASU's Nischay Rawal and Vasudev Vijayaraman 5-4.
Singles play was a similar picture to the day's earlier match, as MSU would earn wins on courts one, five and six, this time with much more ease. Agarwal again was the first off the court, defeating Amor 6-0, 6-0 to pick up his 25th-career win. The win also marks Agarwal's first-ever 6-0, 6-0 showing in his collegiate career.
Haden picked up his second victory of the day in more convincing fashion than his previous one, defeating Salgado 6-1, 6-0. Lakat clinched the match on court one, defeating Santillan 6-0, 6-2.
All three courts still playing were suspended at the clinch, with No. 63 Schmid leading 6-2, 3-1 on court two, Estevarena leadinf 6-4, 3-0 at three and Cutura leading 6-4, 1-1 at the No. 4 spot.
State will now return to action this Sunday, Feb. 1, for an 11 a.m., showdown against No. 42 Texas Tech.
For more information on Mississippi State men's tennis and updates, fans can follow the Bulldogs on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at HailStateMT.
No. 23 Mississippi State 4, No. 75 Rice 0
January 30, 2014 – A.J. Pitts Tennis Centre – Starkville, Miss.
Doubles
1. Juan Cruz Estevarena/Florian Lakat (MSU) def. Max Andrews/David Warren (RU) 6-2
2. Mate Cutura/Tassilo Schmid (MSU) def. Srikar Alla/Jamie Malik (RU) 6-2
3. Rishab Agarwal/Robin Haden (MSU) vs. Gustavo Gonzalez/Adam Gustafsson (RU) 4-4(susp.)
Singles
1. Lakat (MSU) def. Alla (RU) 6-2, 6-3
2. No. 63 Schmid (MSU) vs. Malik (RU) 6-3, 5-4(susp.)
3. Andrews (RU) vs. Estevarena (MSU) 6-2, 2-5(susp.)
4. Gustafsson (RU) vs. Cutura (MSU) 6-3, 5-4(susp.)
5. Agarwal (MSU) def. Warren (RU) 6-0, 6-1
6. Haden (MSU) def. Gonzalez (RU) 6-2, 7-6(5)
Order of finish… Doubles (1,2)… Singles (5,1,6)
No. 23 Mississippi State 4, Alcorn State 0
January 30, 2014 – A.J. Pitts Tennis Centre – Starkville, Miss.
Doubles
1. Juan Cruz Estevarena/Florian Lakat (MSU) def. Nikita Kostikov/Ernesto Santillan (ASU) 6-2
2. Mate Cutura/Tassilo Schmid (MSU) def. Nischay Rawal/Vasudev Vijayaraman (ASU) 5-4(susp.)
3. Rishab Agarwal/Robin Haden (MSU) vs. Garry Amor/Kilian Salgado (ASU) 6-1
Singles
1. Lakat (MSU) def. Santillan (ASU) 6-0, 6-2
2. No. 63 Schmid (MSU) vs. Kostikov (ASU) 6-2, 3-1(susp.)
3. Estevarena (MSU) vs. Rawal (ASU) 6-4, 3-0(susp.)
4. Cutura (MSU) vs. Vijayaraman (ASU) 6-4, 1-1(susp.)
5. Agarwal (MSU) def. Amor (ASU) 6-0, 6-0
6. Haden (MSU) def. Salgado (ASU) 6-1, 6-0
Order of finish… Doubles (3,1)… Singles (5,6,1)
Players Mentioned
