Mississippi State
Kentucky
No. 34 Bulldogs Take Down Wildcats For First Time Since 2007
March 28, 2015 | Men's Tennis
LEXINGTON, Ky.. – It's been eight years since the Bulldogs could wrap it in Maroon and White against their SEC foes from Lexington. On Friday, No. 34 Mississippi State (14-5, 5-2 SEC) broke the streak, downing the Kentucky Wildcats (9-13, 0-7 SEC) in a 4-3 comeback win at the Boone Tennis Complex.
The win marked the first Bulldog win against the Wildcats since a 4-1 win in Starkville on March 23, 2007. The win was MSU's first in Lexington since the Bulldogs upset the fourth-ranked Wildcats, 4-3, on March 24, 2002.
“Really proud of this team for how they have come together to get a couple crucial wins in the midst of the conference season,” MSU coach Matt Roberts said. “It's not easy to get an indoor win after playing outdoors for so long, but our guys kept their composure and pulled out the win.”
The first contest in a two-match road swing for MSU was forced indoors due to weather. Kentucky jumped out ahead by taking the doubles point thanks to taking a tiebreaker on court one to clinch.
State would jump in the lead thanks to singles wins from Mate Cutura and No. 108 Florian Lakat, but the lead was short-lived. Kentucky would fire back with two quick wins on courts two and four to put them one away from upsetting the Bulldogs. MSU would pull two victories out from Rishab Agarwal and Julian Cash to finish off the comeback.
Kentucky kicked off doubles play with a 6-3 victory on court two, as the Wildcat duo of Nils Ellefsen and Jerry Lopez defeated MSU's Mate Cutura and Tassilo Schmid. However, the Bulldogs would equalize, as Juan Cruz Estevarena and Robin Haden took a 6-3 win from UK's William Bushamuka and Trey Yates. The win marked the MSU duo's fourth-straight triumph.
The match's opening point came down to court one, where the Wildcats' No. 50 duo of Kevin Lai and Beck Pennington came back from a break down to upset MSU's No. 14 team of Julian Cash and Florian Lakat 7-6(5). The loss was the first for Cash and Lakat this spring, halting a 6-0 start in dual match play.
Due to being moved indoors to UK's four-court facility, the top four positions started play first. MSU would take first sets on courts one and three, but the Wildcats would take the opening frame on two and four.
MSU would take the first two singles matches to finish, with Cutura winning his fifth-straight match by downing Bushamuka 6-3, 6-1 to tie the match and move to 5-0 in SEC play. No. 108 Lakat would follow close behind on court one, defeating UK's No. 59 Pennington 6-4, 6-4 to put MSU in the lead, 2-1.
The lead would only last a matter of minutes, as the Wildcats fired back with wins on No. 2 and No. 4. Estevarena faltered on court two against UK's Lopez, dropping a 6-4, 6-3 decision. Kentucky would jump in the lead with a 7-5, 6-3 win from Yates against MSU's No. 122 Schmid on court four.
Down 3-2, the Bulldogs would rest their hopes on the sophomore Agarwal and the freshman Cash. Both would cruise to easy first-set wins, but would be challenged more in the second. Agarwal would eventually pull away from UK's Ellefsen, earning a 6-3, 6-4 win to tie the match at 3-3.
All eyes would then turn to court six, where Cash, after taking the first set 6-1, was in danger of being pushed to a third. Down 5-3 and a break, Cash would throw UK's Gus Benson off his game with a break to put the set back on serve. From there, Cash kept the momentum rolling, breaking again to go ahead 6-5 and then holding serve to clinch the MSU victory, 6-1, 7-5.
“I'm proud of Julian for breaking back down 5-3 and playing confident and composed when it mattered most,” Roberts said. “It was clutch from both him and Rishab to get the job done when all the pressure was on them.”
The Bulldogs will cap their two-match road swing at No. 52 Tennessee on Sunday. First serve is set for 1 p.m. ET in Knoxville.
For more information on Mississippi State men's tennis and updates, fans can follow the Bulldogs on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at HailStateMT.
No. 34 Mississippi State 4, Kentucky 3
March 27, 2015 – Boone Tennis Complex – Lexington, Ky.
Doubles
1. No. 50 Kevin Lai/Beck Pennington (UK) def. No. 14 Julian Cash/Florian Lakat (MSU) 7-6(5)
2. Nils Ellefsen/Jerry Lopez (UK) def. Mate Cutura/Tassilo Schmid (MSU) 6-3
3. Juan Cruz Estevarena/Robin Haden (MSU) def. William Bushamuka/Trey Yates (UK) 6-3
Singles
1. No. 108 Lakat (MSU) def. No. 59 Pennington (UK) 6-4, 6-4
2. Lopez (UK) def. Estevarena (MSU) 6-4, 6-3
3. Cutura (MSU) def. Bushamuka (UK) 6-3, 6-1
4. Yates (UK) def. No. 122 Schmid (MSU) 7-5, 6-3
5. Rishab Agarwal (MSU) def. Ellefsen (UK) 6-3, 6-4
6. Cash (MSU) def. Gus Benson (UK) 6-1, 7-5
Order of finish… Doubles (2,3,1)… Singles (3,1,2,4,5,6)
Players Mentioned
