A year after Mississippi State saw its season end at Ohio State in the third round of the NCAA Tournament, the Bulldogs were back in the same place on the same stage. And this time, they pushed their way through to the NCAA quarterfinals.
No. 12 seed MSU defeated the No. 5 seed Buckeyes 4-2 on Saturday, advancing to the championships for the first time since 2018.
Ohio State won the first completed doubles match, defeating freshman Niccolo Baroni and junior Mario Martinez Serrano 6-2 at the No. 2 spot. But the nation’s top-ranked duo of juniors Petar Jovanovic and Benito Sanchez Martinez earned a 6-4 win at No. 1, and then the No. 3 team of senior Dusan Milanovic and junior Michal Novansky pulled out a tiebreak, winning 7-6(8-6).
In singles, the Buckeyes again threw the first punch. Aidan Kim, ranked 11th in the country individually, defeated Sanchez Martinez 6-1, 6-4 at No. 1, and freshman Bryan Hernandez Cortes also fell in straight sets at No. 5 to give Ohio State the lead. MSU (25-5) stormed back from there, though. Jovanovic tied things back up with a 6-4, 6-3 win at No. 2, then Martinez Serrano earned a 6-4, 6-4 victory at No. 6.
Milanovic, the Bulldogs’ lone senior, then wrapped things up at No. 4 with a 7-5, 7-6(4) triumph over William Jansen. It was just his third clinching point of the season.
MSU reached the quarterfinals for the seventh time in program history. Jovanovic and Sanchez Martinez extended their doubles winning streak to 16, and they now have 57 doubles wins as a pairing, tying them with Nuno Borges and Strahinja Rakic for the most by any Bulldogs duo.
Head coach Matt Roberts and company now head to Waco, Texas, where the remainder of the tournament will take place from May 16-18. MSU will face No. 4 seed Stanford in the quarterfinals on Friday. A win would send the Bulldogs to the semifinals for the third time, with the first two trips coming in 1994 and 1998.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 32 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 32 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
