One of the most successful seasons in Mississippi State men’s tennis history came to a close Thursday in the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament.
After advancing to the quarterfinals for the second straight year, the No. 5-seeded Bulldogs succumbed to the firepower of No. 4 seed Virginia in a 4-1 loss in Athens, Ga.
The Cavaliers took control early by grabbing the doubles point. Jangjun Kim and Santamarta Roig defeated MSU’s Niccolo Baroni and Mario Martinez Serrano 6-2, and Mans Dahlberg and Dylan Dietrich took down the Bulldog duo of Michal Novansky and Benito Sanchez Martinez 6-3.
In singles play, MSU started off strong with an immediate match victory. Raphael Vaksmann bested Stiles Brockett, 6-1, 6-2 to earn a point, but the Bulldogs couldn’t keep up the momentum and dropped three straight matches for the loss. Dylan Dietrich defeated SEC Player of the Year Sanchez Martinez 6-4, 6-3, Keegan Rice bested Petar Jovanovic, 6-3, 6-2 and Andres Santamarta Roig gave Virginia the victory with a 6-2, 7-6 win over Mario Martinez Serrano (MSU) 6-2, 7-6 (8).
Mississippi State ends its season at 25-6 overall. Virginia advances to the semifinals to play No. 1 seed Wake Forest. On the other side of the bracket, No. 6 TCU plays No. 2 Texas.
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