College Tennis News - No. 11 MSU Tennis Drops Regular Season Finale At No. 14 A&M, 4-0

COLLEGE STATION, Texas – In their first matchup ever in Southeastern Conference play, the 11th-ranked Mississippi State men’s tennis squad (16-8, 6-6 SEC) fell to the No. 14 Texas A&M Aggies (15-11, 6-5 SEC) Friday night on the road. The two teams have now split matches this season, as MSU defeated A&M 4-0 earlier this year in the ITA National Indoor Championships in Seattle.

The Aggies jumped out to an early lead Friday by taking the doubles point on courts one and two. State did get out in front first in doubles, as the Bulldog duo of Pedro Dumont and Ethan Wilkinson defeated TAMU’s Jeremy Efferding and Jordan Szabo 8-5. 

TAMU struck back quickly, as the No. 9 duo of Junior Ore and Jackson Withrow defeated MSU’s No. 12 team of Jordan Angus and Malte Stropp 8-5 at No. 1. TAMU clinched doubles with an 8-4 victory from the No. 26 tandem of Harrison Adams and Shane Vinsant against MSU’s Romain Bogaerts and Zach White on court two.

In singles, the Aggies jumped ahead quickly by taking five of six first sets.

On court five, A&M’s Szabo was the first to finish, as he defeated MSU’s White 6-2, 6-3. TAMU’s Ore followed suit, as he downed State’s No. 58 Malte Stropp 6-3, 6-3 on court two. The Aggies clinched the match when No. 78 Shane Vinsant defeated MSU freshman Angus 7-5, 6-1 on court four.  

Play on the remaining courts was suspended at that point. No. 12 Bogaerts took the first set on one 6-4, but No. 40 Efferding of A&M split, taking the second 6-2 as play ended. TAMU’s No. 119 Adams led State’s James Chaudry 7-5, 5-4 on court three. On court six, the pair had split the first two sets and just begun the third, as A&M’s Behzad Minavi led MSU’s Dumont 6-3, 4-6, 1-0.

With the regular season wrapped up, the Bulldogs will now prepare for the 2013 SEC Championship, set to take place in Oxford, Miss., April 17-21. The draw for the tournament will be announced late Sunday after all regular season play in the league has concluded.

For more information on Mississippi State men’s tennis, follow the Bulldogs on Twitter (www.twitter.com/mstatemt) and on Facebook (www.facebook.com/mstatemt).

No. 14 Texas A&M 4, No. 11 Mississippi State 0
April 12, 2013 – George P. Mitchell Tennis Center– College Station, Texas

Doubles

1) No. 9 Junior Ore/Jackson Withrow (TAMU) def. No. 12 Jordan Angus/Malte Stropp (MSU) 8-5

2) No. 26 Harrison Adams/Shane Vinsant (TAMU) def. Romain Bogaerts/Zach White (MSU) 8-4

3) Pedro Dumont/Ethan Wilkinson (MSU) def. Jeremy Efferding/Jordan Szabo 8-5

Singles

1) No. 12 Bogaerts (MSU) vs. No. 40 Efferding (TAMU) 6-4, 2-6(susp.)

2) Ore (TAMU) def. No. 58 Stropp (MSU) 6-3, 6-3

3) No. 119 Adams (TAMU) vs. James Chaudry (MSU) 7-5, 5-4(susp.)

4) No. 78 Vinsant (TAMU) def. Angus (MSU) 7-5, 6-1

5) Szabo (TAMU) def. White (MSU) 6-2, 6-3

6) Behzad Minavi (TAMU) vs. Dumont (MSU) 3-6, 6-4, 1-0(susp.)

Order of finish… Doubles (3,2,1)… Singles (5,2,4)