STARKVILLE – Another strong doubles performance led the way for No. 3 Mississippi State on Friday afternoon, setting up a 4-1 victory against a strong Miami squad at the A.J. Pitts Tennis Centre.
The Bulldogs (3-0) began the day like they have for 14 matches in a row—by taking the doubles point. MSU followed that up by claiming five of six first sets against the Hurricanes (4-2) to take the victory. With the win, MSU extended its home non-conference win streak to 23 matches.
“When we’re ranked where we are and playing talented teams, we’re going to get everybody’s best shot,” head coach Matt Roberts said. “We have to understand that our opponents are going to fight until the very end. We have to make that last push, and I thought we did that today. I thought our doubles was very impressive. We’re serving and returning well and playing great doubles, and that’s really helping us get an early lead.”
On Court 3, Trevor Foshey and Gregor Ramskogler remained perfect with a quick 6-1 triumph against Miami’s Dane Dunlap and Stephen Madonia, setting up a race to the finish between courts 1 and 2 to find out who would clinch the doubles point, with both holding commanding 5-1 leads.
MSU’s 36th-ranked Nuno Borges and Strahinja Rakic won that race, taking a 6-1 victory against the Hurricane tandem Franco Aubone and Kaya Gore on court 1. The seventh-ranked Bulldog duo of Niclas Braun and Giovanni Oradini led 5-1 at the clincher, with MSU up 1-0 at the break.
Florian Broska pushed MSU’s lead out to 2-0 in a hurry, with the 78th-ranked sophomore notching a quick 6-1, 6-0 victory against Gore on court 6.
The 2018 All-American Oradini gave State a commanding 3-0 advantage with his first dual match win of the season at No. 2, taking a 6-2, 6-3 decision against Miami’s 35th-ranked Jankulovski.
The Hurricanes’ lone point came on court 3, when 97th-ranked Francisco Bastias won a 6-3, 6-4 decision over MSU’s Rakic.
Much like doubles, there was a race to the finish for the clincher, this time between courts 1 and 5 with No. 11 Borges and the 93rd-ranked Foshey playing for the match.
Foshey was the first to finish, coming from down 4-3 and a break to win the final three games at the No. 5 spot to defeat Franco Aubone 7-5, 6-4.
“We played unbelievable doubles,” Foshey said. “We’ve been working hard on that. It was great to see everyone fighting hard today. Nuno and Nic were both up (in third sets), and I felt pretty confident in them. Overall, the longer (the match) gets, the better we get, so that’s good.”
Borges was serving for the match at No. 1, up 5-2 against Miami’s No. 21 Soriano Barrera in the third set when Foshey clinched. And MSU’s 67th-ranked Braun held a 2-1 lead on Dunlap in the third frame when play was suspended.
Next Up For MSU …
MSU will close its four-match home stand to open up the season with an 11 a.m. CT match against South Florida on Sunday. After that, State will hit the road for the rest of the month before returning home to take on Vanderbilt on March 1 to start the 2019 SEC slate.
For more information on the Mississippi State men’s tennis program, follow “HailStateMT” on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
No. 3 Mississippi State 4, Miami 1
February 1, 2019
A.J. Pitts Tennis Centre – Starkville, Miss.
Doubles
1. #36 Nuno Borges/Strahinja Rakic (MSU) def. Franco Aubone/Kaya Gore (UM) 6-1
2. #7 Niclas Braun/Giovanni Oradini (MSU) vs. Bojan Jankulovski/Adria Soriano Barrera (UM) 5-1 (susp.)
3. Trevor Foshey/Gregor Ramskogler (MSU) def. Dane Dunlap/Stephen Madonia (UM) 6-1
Order of finish: 3,1
Singles
1. #11 Nuno Borges (MSU) vs. #21 Adria Soriano Barrera (UM) 6-3, 4-6, 5-2 (susp.)
2. Giovanni Oradini (MSU) def. #35 Bojan Jankulovski (UM) 6-2, 6-3
3. #97 Francisco Bastias (UM) def. Strahinja Rakic (MSU) 6-3, 6-4
4. #67 Niclas Braun (MSU) vs. Dane Dunlap (UM) 6-4, 2-6, 2-1 (susp.)
5. #93 Trevor Foshey (MSU) def. Franco Aubone (UM) 7-5, 6-4
6. #78 Florian Broska (MSU) def. Kaya Gore (UM) 6-1, 6-0
Order of finish: 6,2,3,5
--HailState.com--
