Sunday, April 14
Baton Rouge, La.
12:00 PM
Mississippi State
4
at
0
LSU
Strahinja Rakic clinched MSU's 4-0 victory over LSU with a three-set ranked win on Sunday.
Photo by: Blake Williams/MSU Athletics
No. 7 Bulldogs Down No. 36 LSU In Regular-Season Finale For Ninth-Straight Win
April 14, 2019 | Men's Tennis
by Caleb Garner, Graduate Assistant/Communications
BATON ROUGE, La. – On a windy Sunday afternoon near the shores of the Mississippi River, the No. 7 Mississippi State men's tennis team capped off the 2019 regular season with a 4-0 blanking against No. 36 LSU, the Bulldogs' ninth-consecutive triumph.
The Bulldogs (19-3, 11-1 SEC) finished second in the SEC standings for the second year in a row and will have a double-bye into the conference tournament quarterfinals where they will play this Friday. With the victory against the Tigers (16-10, 3-9), MSU won for the 10th time in the last 12 meetings between the two teams and has now won four straight in the series.
"We wanted to finish conference play strong today against LSU," head coach Matt Roberts said. "The conditions today were very windy, and our guys embraced that challenge and competed very well. Overall, I'm impressed with this team's resiliency and determination during SEC play this season, and we are ready to get to work at the SEC Tournament down in Gainesville. We live for postseason tournaments and can't wait to compete next week. Hail State!"
The Bulldogs had to fend off a fierce LSU comeback in doubles after going up 5-1 on court 1 and 5-2 on court 3, while MSU surged back after being down a break on court 2.
State's Trevor Foshey and Gregor Ramskogler once again were the first Bulldog duo to finish, as they took a 6-3 victory over the Tiger tandem of Boris Kozlov and Nick Watson at No. 3. Moments later, MSU's third-ranked duo of Nuno Borges and Strahinja Rakic posted an identical outcome against LSU's Shane Monroe and Daniel Moreno on court 1 to clinch another doubles point for the Maroon and White – State's third in a row and 31st in the last 33 matches.
At the clinch, LSU's No. 42 Joey Thomas and Rafael Wagner led the Bulldogs' 15th-ranked Niclas Braun and Giovanni Oradini 5-4 at No. 2 with the State pair serving.
In singles, the Bulldogs claimed all six first sets, but the Tigers would put up a valiant fight, forcing three matches into third sets. State's second-ranked Borges was first to finish, taking a 6-2, 6-3 victory against Monroe on court 1 that put MSU up 2-0 and extended his career-long winning streak to 21 matches. The two-time reigning SEC Player of the Year finished the regular season undefeated and only dropped one singles set during SEC play this season.
With his two wins on Sunday, Borges improved to second all-time in career wins (176) – just one behind Matthieu Ballay (1996-99) at the top spot. He is also now just one win away from tying Mark Jeffrey (1988-91) atop the career singles wins chart and ranks fifth all-time in career dual match doubles wins (53).
On court 2, MSU's 70th-ranked Oradini posted a tough 6-4, 6-4 decision against Tiger Rafael Wagner to give the Bulldogs a 3-0 lead.
Rakic then capped off a 2-0 day with an exciting top-125 win against the Tigers' 107th-ranked Kozlov to clinch the match for MSU. After taking the first set 6-2, Rakic battled back from a 6-0 decision in the second set to take control late in the third. Up 3-2, the Serbian broke Kozlov to go up 4-2, where he held to take a 5-2 lead. After Kozlov held on the following game, Rakic served it out to take the match and send his team home with a sweep, earning his fourth win in the last 5 outings.
The remaining three courts were suspended at the clincher, with Foshey serving for the match on court 5 up 6-3, 6-5 against Thomas. Braun led 4-2 in the third against Malik Bhatnagar at No. 4, while Broska was up 2-1 early in the final set against Daniel Moreno.
Next Up For MSU …
By finishing second in the league for the second year in a row, the Bulldogs earned a coveted double-bye in the 2019 SEC Championship, which runs April 17-21 in Gainesville, Florida. MSU will take on either seventh-seeded Kentucky or 10th-seeded Vanderbilt in the tourney quarterfinals on Friday, with match time slated for 11 a.m. CT.
For more information on the Mississippi State men's tennis program, follow "HailStateMT" on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
No. 7 Mississippi State 4, No. 36 LSU 0
April 14, 2019
LSU Tennis Complex – Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Doubles
1. #3 Nuno Borges/Strahinja Rakic (MSU) def. Shane Monroe/Daniel Moreno (LSU) 6-3
2. #42 Joey Thomas/Rafael Wagner (LSU) vs. #15 Niclas Braun/Giovanni Oradini (MSU) 5-4 (susp.)
3. Trevor Foshey/Gregor Ramskogler (MSU) def. Boris Kozlov/Nick Watson (LSU) 6-3
Order of finish: 3,1
Singles
1. #2 Nuno Borges (MSU) def. Shane Monroe (LSU) 6-2, 6-3
2. #70 Giovanni Oradini (MSU) def. Rafael Wagner (LSU) 6-4, 6-4
3. Strahinja Rakic (MSU) def. #107 Boris Kozlov (LSU) 6-2, 0-6, 6-3
4. Niclas Braun (MSU) vs. Malik Bhatnagar (LSU) 6-0, 3-6, 4-2 (susp.)
5. Trevor Foshey (MSU) vs. Joey Thomas (LSU) 6-3, 6-5 (susp.)
6. Florian Broska (MSU) vs. Daniel Moreno (LSU) 6-2, 4-6, 2-1 (susp.)
Order of finish: 1,2,3
BATON ROUGE, La. – On a windy Sunday afternoon near the shores of the Mississippi River, the No. 7 Mississippi State men's tennis team capped off the 2019 regular season with a 4-0 blanking against No. 36 LSU, the Bulldogs' ninth-consecutive triumph.
The Bulldogs (19-3, 11-1 SEC) finished second in the SEC standings for the second year in a row and will have a double-bye into the conference tournament quarterfinals where they will play this Friday. With the victory against the Tigers (16-10, 3-9), MSU won for the 10th time in the last 12 meetings between the two teams and has now won four straight in the series.
"We wanted to finish conference play strong today against LSU," head coach Matt Roberts said. "The conditions today were very windy, and our guys embraced that challenge and competed very well. Overall, I'm impressed with this team's resiliency and determination during SEC play this season, and we are ready to get to work at the SEC Tournament down in Gainesville. We live for postseason tournaments and can't wait to compete next week. Hail State!"
The Bulldogs had to fend off a fierce LSU comeback in doubles after going up 5-1 on court 1 and 5-2 on court 3, while MSU surged back after being down a break on court 2.
State's Trevor Foshey and Gregor Ramskogler once again were the first Bulldog duo to finish, as they took a 6-3 victory over the Tiger tandem of Boris Kozlov and Nick Watson at No. 3. Moments later, MSU's third-ranked duo of Nuno Borges and Strahinja Rakic posted an identical outcome against LSU's Shane Monroe and Daniel Moreno on court 1 to clinch another doubles point for the Maroon and White – State's third in a row and 31st in the last 33 matches.
At the clinch, LSU's No. 42 Joey Thomas and Rafael Wagner led the Bulldogs' 15th-ranked Niclas Braun and Giovanni Oradini 5-4 at No. 2 with the State pair serving.
In singles, the Bulldogs claimed all six first sets, but the Tigers would put up a valiant fight, forcing three matches into third sets. State's second-ranked Borges was first to finish, taking a 6-2, 6-3 victory against Monroe on court 1 that put MSU up 2-0 and extended his career-long winning streak to 21 matches. The two-time reigning SEC Player of the Year finished the regular season undefeated and only dropped one singles set during SEC play this season.
With his two wins on Sunday, Borges improved to second all-time in career wins (176) – just one behind Matthieu Ballay (1996-99) at the top spot. He is also now just one win away from tying Mark Jeffrey (1988-91) atop the career singles wins chart and ranks fifth all-time in career dual match doubles wins (53).
On court 2, MSU's 70th-ranked Oradini posted a tough 6-4, 6-4 decision against Tiger Rafael Wagner to give the Bulldogs a 3-0 lead.
Rakic then capped off a 2-0 day with an exciting top-125 win against the Tigers' 107th-ranked Kozlov to clinch the match for MSU. After taking the first set 6-2, Rakic battled back from a 6-0 decision in the second set to take control late in the third. Up 3-2, the Serbian broke Kozlov to go up 4-2, where he held to take a 5-2 lead. After Kozlov held on the following game, Rakic served it out to take the match and send his team home with a sweep, earning his fourth win in the last 5 outings.
The remaining three courts were suspended at the clincher, with Foshey serving for the match on court 5 up 6-3, 6-5 against Thomas. Braun led 4-2 in the third against Malik Bhatnagar at No. 4, while Broska was up 2-1 early in the final set against Daniel Moreno.
Next Up For MSU …
By finishing second in the league for the second year in a row, the Bulldogs earned a coveted double-bye in the 2019 SEC Championship, which runs April 17-21 in Gainesville, Florida. MSU will take on either seventh-seeded Kentucky or 10th-seeded Vanderbilt in the tourney quarterfinals on Friday, with match time slated for 11 a.m. CT.
For more information on the Mississippi State men's tennis program, follow "HailStateMT" on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
No. 7 Mississippi State 4, No. 36 LSU 0
April 14, 2019
LSU Tennis Complex – Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Doubles
1. #3 Nuno Borges/Strahinja Rakic (MSU) def. Shane Monroe/Daniel Moreno (LSU) 6-3
2. #42 Joey Thomas/Rafael Wagner (LSU) vs. #15 Niclas Braun/Giovanni Oradini (MSU) 5-4 (susp.)
3. Trevor Foshey/Gregor Ramskogler (MSU) def. Boris Kozlov/Nick Watson (LSU) 6-3
Order of finish: 3,1
Singles
1. #2 Nuno Borges (MSU) def. Shane Monroe (LSU) 6-2, 6-3
2. #70 Giovanni Oradini (MSU) def. Rafael Wagner (LSU) 6-4, 6-4
3. Strahinja Rakic (MSU) def. #107 Boris Kozlov (LSU) 6-2, 0-6, 6-3
4. Niclas Braun (MSU) vs. Malik Bhatnagar (LSU) 6-0, 3-6, 4-2 (susp.)
5. Trevor Foshey (MSU) vs. Joey Thomas (LSU) 6-3, 6-5 (susp.)
6. Florian Broska (MSU) vs. Daniel Moreno (LSU) 6-2, 4-6, 2-1 (susp.)
Order of finish: 1,2,3
Players Mentioned
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/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
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