Sunday, March 24
Starkville
1:00 PM
Mississippi State
4
vs
3
Georgia
Senior Trevor Foshey clinched MSU's 4-3 victory over No. 22 Georgia on Sunday.
Photo by: Blake Williams/MSU Athletics
No. 8 MSU Outlasts No. 22 Georgia, 4-3, Sunday
March 24, 2019 | Men's Tennis
by Caleb Garner, Graduate Assistant/Communications
STARKVILLE – Down 3-2 with Georgia just two points away from clinching, No. 8 Mississippi State notched back-to-back three-set wins to come away victorious in a 4-3 victory over the 22nd-ranked Bulldogs from Athens.
MSU (15-3, 7-1 SEC) faced an uncommon 1-0 deficit after doubles, but it used that as momentum going into singles in the back-and-forth affair against UGA (7-8, 3-4), bouncing back with four singles wins – two in three sets – to earn the victory. The win marked State's 24th straight home win and its 14th consecutive at home in SEC play. Additionally, the Bulldogs have now claimed five straight victories since dropping a 5-2 decision at Florida on March 10.
"Today was yet another great match between two great SEC teams," head coach Matt Roberts said. "Georgia came out and played a great match and gave us their best shot, starting with a well-played doubles point. We lost doubles, but we turned that into a positive and saw it as a moment of adversity for our future. We needed to feel that 1-0 deficit into singles, and I thought our guys bounced back strongly. I thought all six of our guys competed really well, were encouraging and pushed one another, and that was our goal today."
Georgia earned a 1-0 lead after taking a tough doubles point with wins on courts 1 and 3. UGA's 47th-ranked duo of Robert Loeb and Jan Zielinski upset State's eight-ranked tandem of Nuno Borges and Strahinja Rakic 6-3 on court 1 to take an early advantage before Trent Bryde and Philip Henning notched a 6-3 triumph over MSU's Trevor Foshey and Gregor Ramskogler on court 3 to seal the point.
At the clinch, the Georgia pair of Walker Duncan and Emil Reinberg led 5-4 against fourth-ranked Bulldogs Niclas Braun and Giovanni Oradini, on serve. It was the first doubles point MSU had dropped in eight matches, but State has still claimed the opening point in 27 of the last 29 matches.
State would not go away quietly in singles, taking four of six first sets. MSU evened it up at 1-all when Rakic cruised past Loeb on court 4, taking an impressive 6-1, 6-1 triumph.
Then, Borges continued his incredible winning streak in singles to give the homestanding Bulldogs a 2-1 lead by trouncing UGA's 21st-ranked Reinberg 6-2, 6-1 on court 1. The win was the two-time reigning SEC Player of the Year's 17th in a row, as he remained unbeaten in dual match play and improved to a superb 23-2 in singles in 2018-19. In SEC play in 2019, Borges has won 12 of 13 sets played.
UGA would even the contest at 2-all when Bryde took a hard-fought 6-1, 7-6(5) decision over State's Braun on court 3. In the second set, Braun would battle back from down 3-0 to make it 4-all, when both sides would hold serve and force the eventual set tiebreaker. In the breaker, Bryde surged out of the gate to a 4-2 lead, which he would hold onto and take a 7-5 decision to win the set and the match.
Then, Georgia reclaimed the lead as Duncan posted a tight 5-7, 6-1, 6-4 victory against MSU's Florian Broska on court 6. Down 5-2 in the first, Broska fought hard en route to claiming the final five games of the set before Duncan responded with a 6-1 decision in the second to force a crucial third set. There, Duncan went up a break at 2-0, but Broska kept battling to stay within a break of Duncan. The Georgia senior would hold on, however, and win the set 6-4 to put his team up 3-2 with two courts still in third sets.
On court 2, MSU's 94th-ranked Oradini posted his highest-ranked victory of the season, upending Georgia's 13th-ranked Zielinski, who opened the spring ranked No. 2 in the nation. After dropping a tough, back-and-forth first set 7-5 and going down a break at 3-1 in the second, Oradini surged back to win four games in a row to take a 4-3 lead. After holding to go up 5-4 in the second, Zielinski double-faulted four times to even up the match and force a third set. There, Oradini rode the momentum to a 4-1 lead, but Zielinski hung around and knotted up the set at 4-all. Oradini would hold serve to go up 5-4 before he fired a backhand winner to break Zielinski's serve and knot things up at 3-all.
The match then came down to the MSU senior Foshey, who had split sets with UGA's 78th-ranked Henning at the No. 5 spot, but trailed 5-2, 30-0 in the third with Henning serving for the match.
It was then that the Georgia freshman fell hard, suffering an untimely ankle injury. Henning continued to play, fighting the pain to complete the match, but Foshey would go on to take the final five games for a 6-4, 2-6, 7-5 match-clinching victory, MSU's third 4-3 win in its last five matches.
With the win, MSU has now won two straight in the series against Georgia for the first time since taking back-to-back victories in 1994.
Next Up For MSU …
The Bulldogs will return to the road on March 30, traveling to Fayetteville, Arkansas, to take on the 25th-ranked Arkansas Razorbacks. Match time at the Billingsley Tennis Center is set for 1 p.m. CT. After returning from Arkansas, MSU will close out its regular-season home slate against in-state rival Ole Miss at 3 p.m. on April 5, when the program will honor its four seniors.
For more information on the Mississippi State men's tennis program, follow "HailStateMT" on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
No. 8 Mississippi State 4, No. 22 Georgia 3
March 24, 2019
A.J. Pitts Tennis Centre – Starkville, Miss.
Doubles
1. #47 Robert Loeb/Jan Zielinski (UGA) def. #8 Nuno Borges/Strahinja Rakic (MSU) 6-3
2. Walker Duncan/Emil Reinberg (UGA) vs. #4 Niclas Braun/Giovanni Oradini (MSU) 5-4 (susp.)
3. Trent Bryde/Philip Henning (UGA) def. Trevor Foshey/Gregor Ramskogler (MSU) 6-3
Order of finish: 1,3
Singles
1. #2 Nuno Borges (MSU) def. #21 Emil Reinberg (UGA) 6-2, 6-1
2. #94 Giovanni Oradini (MSU) def. #13 Jan Zielinski (UGA) 5-7, 6-4, 6-4
3. Trent Bryde (UGA) def. Niclas Braun (MSU) 6-1, 7-6(5)
4. Strahinja Rakic (MSU) def. Robert Loeb (UGA) 6-1, 6-1
5. Trevor Foshey (MSU) def. #78 Philip Henning (UGA) 6-4, 2-6, 7-5
6. Walker Duncan (UGA) def. Florian Broska (MSU) 5-7, 6-1, 6-4
Order of finish: 4,1,3,6,2,5
STARKVILLE – Down 3-2 with Georgia just two points away from clinching, No. 8 Mississippi State notched back-to-back three-set wins to come away victorious in a 4-3 victory over the 22nd-ranked Bulldogs from Athens.
MSU (15-3, 7-1 SEC) faced an uncommon 1-0 deficit after doubles, but it used that as momentum going into singles in the back-and-forth affair against UGA (7-8, 3-4), bouncing back with four singles wins – two in three sets – to earn the victory. The win marked State's 24th straight home win and its 14th consecutive at home in SEC play. Additionally, the Bulldogs have now claimed five straight victories since dropping a 5-2 decision at Florida on March 10.
"Today was yet another great match between two great SEC teams," head coach Matt Roberts said. "Georgia came out and played a great match and gave us their best shot, starting with a well-played doubles point. We lost doubles, but we turned that into a positive and saw it as a moment of adversity for our future. We needed to feel that 1-0 deficit into singles, and I thought our guys bounced back strongly. I thought all six of our guys competed really well, were encouraging and pushed one another, and that was our goal today."
Georgia earned a 1-0 lead after taking a tough doubles point with wins on courts 1 and 3. UGA's 47th-ranked duo of Robert Loeb and Jan Zielinski upset State's eight-ranked tandem of Nuno Borges and Strahinja Rakic 6-3 on court 1 to take an early advantage before Trent Bryde and Philip Henning notched a 6-3 triumph over MSU's Trevor Foshey and Gregor Ramskogler on court 3 to seal the point.
At the clinch, the Georgia pair of Walker Duncan and Emil Reinberg led 5-4 against fourth-ranked Bulldogs Niclas Braun and Giovanni Oradini, on serve. It was the first doubles point MSU had dropped in eight matches, but State has still claimed the opening point in 27 of the last 29 matches.
State would not go away quietly in singles, taking four of six first sets. MSU evened it up at 1-all when Rakic cruised past Loeb on court 4, taking an impressive 6-1, 6-1 triumph.
Then, Borges continued his incredible winning streak in singles to give the homestanding Bulldogs a 2-1 lead by trouncing UGA's 21st-ranked Reinberg 6-2, 6-1 on court 1. The win was the two-time reigning SEC Player of the Year's 17th in a row, as he remained unbeaten in dual match play and improved to a superb 23-2 in singles in 2018-19. In SEC play in 2019, Borges has won 12 of 13 sets played.
UGA would even the contest at 2-all when Bryde took a hard-fought 6-1, 7-6(5) decision over State's Braun on court 3. In the second set, Braun would battle back from down 3-0 to make it 4-all, when both sides would hold serve and force the eventual set tiebreaker. In the breaker, Bryde surged out of the gate to a 4-2 lead, which he would hold onto and take a 7-5 decision to win the set and the match.
Then, Georgia reclaimed the lead as Duncan posted a tight 5-7, 6-1, 6-4 victory against MSU's Florian Broska on court 6. Down 5-2 in the first, Broska fought hard en route to claiming the final five games of the set before Duncan responded with a 6-1 decision in the second to force a crucial third set. There, Duncan went up a break at 2-0, but Broska kept battling to stay within a break of Duncan. The Georgia senior would hold on, however, and win the set 6-4 to put his team up 3-2 with two courts still in third sets.
On court 2, MSU's 94th-ranked Oradini posted his highest-ranked victory of the season, upending Georgia's 13th-ranked Zielinski, who opened the spring ranked No. 2 in the nation. After dropping a tough, back-and-forth first set 7-5 and going down a break at 3-1 in the second, Oradini surged back to win four games in a row to take a 4-3 lead. After holding to go up 5-4 in the second, Zielinski double-faulted four times to even up the match and force a third set. There, Oradini rode the momentum to a 4-1 lead, but Zielinski hung around and knotted up the set at 4-all. Oradini would hold serve to go up 5-4 before he fired a backhand winner to break Zielinski's serve and knot things up at 3-all.
The match then came down to the MSU senior Foshey, who had split sets with UGA's 78th-ranked Henning at the No. 5 spot, but trailed 5-2, 30-0 in the third with Henning serving for the match.
It was then that the Georgia freshman fell hard, suffering an untimely ankle injury. Henning continued to play, fighting the pain to complete the match, but Foshey would go on to take the final five games for a 6-4, 2-6, 7-5 match-clinching victory, MSU's third 4-3 win in its last five matches.
With the win, MSU has now won two straight in the series against Georgia for the first time since taking back-to-back victories in 1994.
Next Up For MSU …
The Bulldogs will return to the road on March 30, traveling to Fayetteville, Arkansas, to take on the 25th-ranked Arkansas Razorbacks. Match time at the Billingsley Tennis Center is set for 1 p.m. CT. After returning from Arkansas, MSU will close out its regular-season home slate against in-state rival Ole Miss at 3 p.m. on April 5, when the program will honor its four seniors.
For more information on the Mississippi State men's tennis program, follow "HailStateMT" on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
No. 8 Mississippi State 4, No. 22 Georgia 3
March 24, 2019
A.J. Pitts Tennis Centre – Starkville, Miss.
Doubles
1. #47 Robert Loeb/Jan Zielinski (UGA) def. #8 Nuno Borges/Strahinja Rakic (MSU) 6-3
2. Walker Duncan/Emil Reinberg (UGA) vs. #4 Niclas Braun/Giovanni Oradini (MSU) 5-4 (susp.)
3. Trent Bryde/Philip Henning (UGA) def. Trevor Foshey/Gregor Ramskogler (MSU) 6-3
Order of finish: 1,3
Singles
1. #2 Nuno Borges (MSU) def. #21 Emil Reinberg (UGA) 6-2, 6-1
2. #94 Giovanni Oradini (MSU) def. #13 Jan Zielinski (UGA) 5-7, 6-4, 6-4
3. Trent Bryde (UGA) def. Niclas Braun (MSU) 6-1, 7-6(5)
4. Strahinja Rakic (MSU) def. Robert Loeb (UGA) 6-1, 6-1
5. Trevor Foshey (MSU) def. #78 Philip Henning (UGA) 6-4, 2-6, 7-5
6. Walker Duncan (UGA) def. Florian Broska (MSU) 5-7, 6-1, 6-4
Order of finish: 4,1,3,6,2,5
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