STARKVILLE, Miss. – The 19th-ranked Vanderbilt men’s tennis team suffered a 4-2 setback Friday evening against the No. 13 Mississippi State Bulldogs.
Following the loss, the Commodores fall to 14-4 on the year and 4-1 in Southeastern Conference action.
Friday’s road match began with the Dores in a 1-0 hole after suffering back-to-back doubles losses. Fielding three ranked doubles tandems, MSU earned victories on courts two then one. Lachlan McPhee and Panu Virtanen suffered their second loss of the year, falling to No. 30 Niclas Braun/Giovanni Oradini 6-3. MSU’s 58th-ranked Nuno Borges/Strahinja Rakic clinched the point advantage taking a tiebreaker over No. 46 Cameron Klinger and Billy Rowe, 7-6(2).
The Bulldogs earned singles wins on courts three then four to go up 3-0 against the black and gold. MSU’s No. 86 Rakic downed No. 100 Baker Newman 6-3, 6-0, while VU’s Rowe suffered a straight-set loss to Braun 6-3, 6-4.
The Commodores climbed back in the match with victories by No. 22 Klinger and George Harwell on courts one and six before the Bulldogs clinched the match on court five. Klinger earned the upset victory of the day, as the 22nd-ranked junior picked up his highest ranked singles win of his career, downing No. 3 Borges to hand the Bulldog his first loss of the season 7-5, 6-3.
Harwell continues to be a key member of the Commodore lineup, taking the 13th (13-2) victory of his debut season. The Nashville native handed Mississippi State’s Trevor Foshey a 6-3, 7-5 loss for the Dores to earn their second point of the match and make it 3-2.
MSU earned its final win of the outing on court five, as Maxwell Freeman lost in a three-setter against Florian Broska, 6-2, 4-6, 6-1.
VU remains on the road Sunday, facing the Auburn Tigers at 1 p.m.
No. 13 Mississippi State 4, No. 19 Vanderbilt 2
A.J. Pitts Tennis Centre
Starkville, Miss.
March 23, 2018
Doubles
- #58 Nuno Borges/Strahinja Rakic (MSU) def. #46 Cameron Klinger/Billy Rowe (VU) 7-6(2)
- #30 Niclas Braun/Giovanni Oradini (MSU) def. Lachlan McPhee/Panu Virtanen (VU) 6-3
- #65 Florian Broska/Trevor Foshey (MSU) vs. Baker Newman/Daniel Valent (VU) 5-4 (susp.)
Order of finish: 2, 1
Singles
- #22 Cameron Klinger (VU) def. #3 Nuno Borges (MSU) 7-5, 6-3
- #13 Giovanni Oradini (MSU) vs. #56 Daniel Valent (VU) 6-4, 6-6 (6-1) (susp.)
- #86 Strahinja Rakic (MSU) def. #100 Baker Newman (VU) 6-3, 6-0
- Niclas Braun (MSU) def. Billy Rowe (VU) 6-3, 6-4
- Florian Broska (MSU) def. Maxwell Freeman (VU) 6-2, 4-6, 6-1
- George Harwell (VU) def. Trevor Foshey (MSU) 6-3, 7-5
Order of finish: 3, 4, 1, 6, 5
