No. 3 Bulldogs Close ITA Indoors With 4-2 Win Over No. 11 Notre Dame

Sunday, February 17

Chicago, Ill. (Midtown Athletic Club)

9:00 AM

Mississippi State

Notre Dame

Giovanni Oradini posted a pair of wins Sunday against No. 11 Notre Dame, including a three-set victory to clinch the match.

No. 3 Bulldogs Close ITA Indoors With 4-2 Win Over No. 11 Notre Dame

February 17, 2019 | Men's Tennis

by Caleb Garner, Graduate Assistant/Communications

CHICAGO – In its final match of the 2019 ITA National Team Indoor Championship, the No. 3 Mississippi State men's tennis team moved back into the win column, taking a 4-2 victory against No. 11 Notre Dame at the Midtown Athletic Club.

Despite taking the doubles point and claiming four first sets, the Bulldogs (7-2) held off a fierce comeback attempt by the Fighting Irish (8-4), who cut State's lead to 3-2 with two courts remaining, each engaged in tight third sets. MSU's win marked its first over Notre Dame since 2004 and halted a two-match skid in Chicago.

"It was a great day for the Dawgs," head coach Matt Roberts said. "Notre Dame came out firing in doubles. They're a well-coached, classy team, and I thought it was just a great dual match overall. Doubles was very close, and in singles, we just battled. Today, I thought we played our best tennis of the weekend."

Once again, the doubles point was highly-contested and proved key to the match. State got an early advantage when sixth-ranked Niclas Braun and Giovanni Oradini ousted Notre Dame's duo of Alex Lebedev and Axel Nefve 6-4 on court 2. With the win, Braun earned his 78^th career doubles victory, moving him past Rene´-Charles Combette (2000-03) for sixth all-time at MSU. In dual match doubles wins, Braun is now tied with Per Nilsson (1991-94) and Romain Ambert (2001-04) for seventh with 48.

On courts 1 and 3, tight battles were playing out with both MSU duos leading 6-5 and facing possible match tiebreakers. Down 15-40 at No. 1, MSU's 34^th-ranked Nuno Borges and Strahinja Rakic served it out to clinch the doubles point, upending the ninth-ranked Fighting Irish pair of Richard Ciamarra and Tristan McCormick to give MSU a 1-0 lead going into singles.

At the clinch, Trevor Foshey and Gregor Ramskogler led 1-0 in the breaker on court 3.

State went up 2-0 when the fifth-ranked Borges earned a straight-set 6-4, 6-4 victory against UND's No. 18 Lebedev on court 1, firing one of his six aces to close out the match. The win marked Borges' 98^th career singles triumph, moving him past Matthieu Ballay (1996-99) and tying him with Ambert for fourth all-time at State. The three-time All-American Borges' wins in both singles and doubles on Sunday also moved him into a tie for fourth in career dual match victories, matching Laurent Miquelard (1992-95) with 106. In dual match singles wins, Borges is now tied with Jeremy Bayon (1997-2000) for third all-time (63).

The Fighting Irish cut the deficit to 2-1 when Tristan McCormick claimed a 6-4, 6-2 decision against MSU's Rakic on court 3. Moments later, Florian Broska made it 3-1 Bulldogs with a 6-3, 6-2 triumph over Notre Dame's Guillermo Cabrera on court 6.

Notre Dame would fight back, however, with Matt Gamble downing No. 98 Foshey 4-6, 6-0, 6-3 on court 5 to make it 3-2 MSU with the remaining two courts in the middle of tight third sets.

Down a set on court 2, State's 66^th-ranked Oradini came up big in the clutch like he did all last season for the Bulldogs, taking an exciting 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 match-clinching victory over 74^th-ranked Ciamarra. At the clinch, No. 64 Braun trailed Notre Dame's 123^rd-ranked Nefve, 4-3, in the third set on court 4.

"We came here to get better as a team, to be pushed and just enjoy the process together," Roberts said. "It's really exciting to see the guys improving and focusing on the things we're teaching them and doing those things under pressure. We love traveling, training and competing together, and that's winning for us. If we continue to focus on those things, good things will happen."

Next Up For MSU …
The Bulldogs will cap off their six-match road swing this Saturday, Feb. 23, traveling to the USTA National Campus in Orlando, Florida—the final site of the 2019 NCAA Championships—to take on No. 18 Oklahoma in a neutral-site affair. First serve against the Sooners is set for 11 a.m. CT. Following that contest, MSU returns home to open the 2019 Southeastern Conference slate, welcoming Vanderbilt (March 1) and Kentucky (March 3) to the A.J. Pitts Tennis Centre.

For more information on the Mississippi State men's tennis program, follow "HailStateMT" on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

No. 3 Mississippi State 4, No. 11 Notre Dame 2
February 17, 2019
Midtown Athletic Club – Chicago, Illinois

Doubles
1. #34 Nuno Borges/Strahinja Rakic (MSU) def. #9 Richard Ciamarra/Tristan McCormick (ND) 7-5
2. #6 Niclas Braun/Giovanni Oradini (MSU) def. Alex Lebedev/Axel Nefve (ND) 6-4
3. Trevor Foshey/Gregor Ramskogler (MSU) vs. Grayson Broadus/Matt Gamble (ND) 6-6 (1-0) (susp.)
Order of finish: 2,1

Singles
1. #5 Nuno Borges (MSU) def. #18 Alex Lebedev (ND) 6-4, 6-4
2. #66 Giovanni Oradini (MSU) def. #74 Richard Ciamarra (ND) 2-6, 6-3, 6-4
3. Tristan McCormick (ND) def. Strahinja Rakic (MSU) 6-4, 6-2
4. #64 Niclas Braun (MSU) vs. #123 Axel Nefve (ND) 7-5, 1-6, 3-4 (susp.)
5. Matt Gamble (ND) def. #98 Trevor Foshey (MSU) 4-6, 6-0, 6-3
6. Florian Broska (MSU) def. Guillermo Cabrera (ND) 6-3, 6-2
Order of finish: 1,3,6,5,2