Saturday, February 16
Chicago, Ill. (Midtown Athletic Club)
9:00 AM
Mississippi State
1
vs
4
Baylor
Nuno Borges moved into a tie for fifth all-time in career singles victories at MSU with a win on Saturday.
Photo by: Trevor Birchett/MSU Athletics
No. 3 MSU Drops 4-1 Decision To No. 9 Baylor On Saturday In Chicago
February 16, 2019 | Men's Tennis
by Caleb Garner, Graduate Assistant/Communications
CHICAGO – A valiant doubles point and a top-30 win by senior Nuno Borges was not quite enough for the No. 3 Mississippi State men's tennis team on Saturday, as the Bulldogs dropped a hard-fought 4-1 decision to No. 9 Baylor at the 2019 ITA National Team Indoor Championship, a match that was much closer than the final score indicated.
MSU (6-2) had the Bears (9-1) on the ropes multiple times in the doubles point before BU took the early lead, while Borges put State on the board early in singles with a quick straight-set win.
"We had our chances today in doubles today and didn't take them," head coach Matt Roberts said. "That was the difference in the match. We also had great starts in singles, we just have to close out sets and matches. We will use this to help us move forward in our improvement, and we look forward to another match tomorrow."
The doubles point was once again tightly contested, with the Bulldogs and Bears taking wins on courts 2 and 3, respectively, to set up a highly-billed showdown for the clincher on court 1. Baylor earned an early advantage by taking a 6-2 decision against MSU's Trevor Foshey and Gregor Ramskogler, handing the duo its first loss in 2018-19. State's sixth-ranked Niclas Braun and Giovanni Oradini then evened things up, notching a 6-2 win over Baylor's Will Little and Johannes Schretter at No. 2. Much like Friday, an epic tiebreaker at court 1 was to decide who would take the doubles point and an early 1-0 lead.
There, MSU's 34th-ranked Borges and Strahinja Rakic did not back down against the Bears second-ranked tandem of Jimmy Bendeck and Sven Lah, battling back from a break down three times, and saved four match points, to go up 6-5 and serve for the match. Bendeck and Lah then broke Borges and Rakic at 15-40 to force the tiebreaker. In the breaker, both sides held serve well before BU eventually got a mini-break to go up 6-5 and then serve it out to give Baylor an early 1-0 lead. The decision halted MSU's NCAA-best 18-match streak of winning the doubles point.
State knotted the match up at 1-all rather quickly in singles, with the fifth-ranked Borges taking a 6-3, 6-3 victory against BU's 29th-ranked Schretter on court 1. With the victory, Borges moved into a tie for fifth all-time at MSU in career singles victories (97).
Later, Baylor would reclaim the lead at 2-1 when No. 28 Little rallied to upend State's Rakic in a tightly-contested 7-5, 6-3 decision on court 3. With the match still very much hanging in the balance, the Bulldogs and Bears were engaged in extremely tight battles on courts 2, 4, 5 and 6, with all but court 5 going to a third set.
At No. 5, the Bulldogs' 98th-ranked Foshey dropped a nail-biting 6-4, 7-6(5) outcome to Bear Adrian Boitan, moments before Matias Soto would complete an upset of State's 66th-ranked Oradini 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 on court 2 to clinch the match for Baylor.
At the clinch, MSU's 64th-ranked Braun trailed BU's Lah, 6-5 on serve in the third at No. 4, while Bulldog Florian Broska was down 2-1 on serve to the Bears' Bendeck on court 6.
Next Up For MSU …
The Bulldogs will finish up their trip to the Windy City at 9 a.m. CT on Sunday, taking on No. 11 Notre Dame at the Midtown Athletic Club.
For more information on the Mississippi State men's tennis program, follow "HailStateMT" on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
No. 9 Baylor 4, No. 3 Mississippi State 1
February 16, 2019
Midtown Athletic Club – Chicago, Illinois
Doubles
1. #2 Jimmy Bendeck/Sven Lah (BU) def. #34 Nuno Borges/Strahinja Rakic (MSU) 7-6(5)
2. #6 Niclas Braun/Giovanni Oradini (MSU) def. Will Little/Johannes Schretter (BU) 6-2
3. Adrian Boitan/Matias Soto (BU) def. Trevor Foshey/Gregor Ramskogler (MSU) 6-2
Order of finish: 3,2,1
Singles
1. #5 Nuno Borges (MSU) def. #29 Johannes Schretter (BU) 6-3, 6-3
2. Matias Soto (BU) def. #66 Giovanni Oradini (MSU) 3-6, 6-3, 6-3
3. #28 Will Little (BU) def. Strahinja Rakic (MSU) 7-5, 6-3
4. #64 Niclas Braun (MSU) vs. Sven Lah (BU) 4-6, 6-1, 5-6 (susp.)
5. Adrian Boitan (BU) def. #98 Trevor Foshey (MSU) 6-4, 7-6(5)
6. Florian Broska (MSU) vs. Jimmy Bendeck (BU) 4-6, 7-6(6), 1-2 (susp.)
Order of finish: 1,3,5,2
CHICAGO – A valiant doubles point and a top-30 win by senior Nuno Borges was not quite enough for the No. 3 Mississippi State men's tennis team on Saturday, as the Bulldogs dropped a hard-fought 4-1 decision to No. 9 Baylor at the 2019 ITA National Team Indoor Championship, a match that was much closer than the final score indicated.
MSU (6-2) had the Bears (9-1) on the ropes multiple times in the doubles point before BU took the early lead, while Borges put State on the board early in singles with a quick straight-set win.
"We had our chances today in doubles today and didn't take them," head coach Matt Roberts said. "That was the difference in the match. We also had great starts in singles, we just have to close out sets and matches. We will use this to help us move forward in our improvement, and we look forward to another match tomorrow."
The doubles point was once again tightly contested, with the Bulldogs and Bears taking wins on courts 2 and 3, respectively, to set up a highly-billed showdown for the clincher on court 1. Baylor earned an early advantage by taking a 6-2 decision against MSU's Trevor Foshey and Gregor Ramskogler, handing the duo its first loss in 2018-19. State's sixth-ranked Niclas Braun and Giovanni Oradini then evened things up, notching a 6-2 win over Baylor's Will Little and Johannes Schretter at No. 2. Much like Friday, an epic tiebreaker at court 1 was to decide who would take the doubles point and an early 1-0 lead.
There, MSU's 34th-ranked Borges and Strahinja Rakic did not back down against the Bears second-ranked tandem of Jimmy Bendeck and Sven Lah, battling back from a break down three times, and saved four match points, to go up 6-5 and serve for the match. Bendeck and Lah then broke Borges and Rakic at 15-40 to force the tiebreaker. In the breaker, both sides held serve well before BU eventually got a mini-break to go up 6-5 and then serve it out to give Baylor an early 1-0 lead. The decision halted MSU's NCAA-best 18-match streak of winning the doubles point.
State knotted the match up at 1-all rather quickly in singles, with the fifth-ranked Borges taking a 6-3, 6-3 victory against BU's 29th-ranked Schretter on court 1. With the victory, Borges moved into a tie for fifth all-time at MSU in career singles victories (97).
Later, Baylor would reclaim the lead at 2-1 when No. 28 Little rallied to upend State's Rakic in a tightly-contested 7-5, 6-3 decision on court 3. With the match still very much hanging in the balance, the Bulldogs and Bears were engaged in extremely tight battles on courts 2, 4, 5 and 6, with all but court 5 going to a third set.
At No. 5, the Bulldogs' 98th-ranked Foshey dropped a nail-biting 6-4, 7-6(5) outcome to Bear Adrian Boitan, moments before Matias Soto would complete an upset of State's 66th-ranked Oradini 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 on court 2 to clinch the match for Baylor.
At the clinch, MSU's 64th-ranked Braun trailed BU's Lah, 6-5 on serve in the third at No. 4, while Bulldog Florian Broska was down 2-1 on serve to the Bears' Bendeck on court 6.
Next Up For MSU …
The Bulldogs will finish up their trip to the Windy City at 9 a.m. CT on Sunday, taking on No. 11 Notre Dame at the Midtown Athletic Club.
For more information on the Mississippi State men's tennis program, follow "HailStateMT" on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
No. 9 Baylor 4, No. 3 Mississippi State 1
February 16, 2019
Midtown Athletic Club – Chicago, Illinois
Doubles
1. #2 Jimmy Bendeck/Sven Lah (BU) def. #34 Nuno Borges/Strahinja Rakic (MSU) 7-6(5)
2. #6 Niclas Braun/Giovanni Oradini (MSU) def. Will Little/Johannes Schretter (BU) 6-2
3. Adrian Boitan/Matias Soto (BU) def. Trevor Foshey/Gregor Ramskogler (MSU) 6-2
Order of finish: 3,2,1
Singles
1. #5 Nuno Borges (MSU) def. #29 Johannes Schretter (BU) 6-3, 6-3
2. Matias Soto (BU) def. #66 Giovanni Oradini (MSU) 3-6, 6-3, 6-3
3. #28 Will Little (BU) def. Strahinja Rakic (MSU) 7-5, 6-3
4. #64 Niclas Braun (MSU) vs. Sven Lah (BU) 4-6, 6-1, 5-6 (susp.)
5. Adrian Boitan (BU) def. #98 Trevor Foshey (MSU) 6-4, 7-6(5)
6. Florian Broska (MSU) vs. Jimmy Bendeck (BU) 4-6, 7-6(6), 1-2 (susp.)
Order of finish: 1,3,5,2
Players Mentioned
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
Men's Tennis | Matt Roberts Michigan State Presser
Saturday, May 03
Men's Tennis | Matt Roberts & Niccolo Baroni
Friday, May 02
Men's Tennis | Matt Roberts - NCAA Selection Show
Monday, April 28
Mississippi State Men's Tennis vs. Arkansas Recap - 04/07/21
Thursday, April 08