It took until the last match of the regular season, but Mississippi State finally has a Southeastern Conference win in Chris Hooshyar’s first season as the Bulldogs’ head coach.
MSU was winless in SEC play last year, so the Bulldogs’ 4-1 win over Missouri on Sunday was their first conference victory since 2022, and it came on Senior Day for Alexandra Mikhailuk and Chloé Cirotte.
“I’m proud of them for not turning it in,” Hooshyar said. “A lot of teams would have turned it in much sooner in the season. One of the things we wanted to do was continue to build. I feel like our practice court environment has improved a lot and our workout habits have improved. We’ve still got a heck of a long way to go on self-belief when we step onto the court, but you’re also in a league where you have to earn everything.”
MSU’s weekend started with a 6-1 loss to Arkansas on Friday, with the Bulldogs’ only point coming from junior Maria Rizzolo at No. 2 singles when her opponent retired in the middle of the third set. Against the Tigers, though, MSU claimed the doubles point in dramatic fashion.
The Bulldogs’ top pairing of Mikhailuk and freshman Athina Pitta lost 6-1, but the No. 2 duo of Cirotte and freshman Jayna Clemens won by that same score, and the No. 3 team of Rizzolo and junior Alessia Tagliente pulled out its match in a tiebreak.
Cirotte won the first completed singles match 6-4, 6-2, and after Mikhailuk lost in straight sets, sophomore Dharani Niroshan put MSU on the brink of victory with a three-set win. Clemens, after losing the first set 0-6, took the next two 6-4 to clinch the long-awaited triumph.
The Bulldogs (11-15, 1-12 SEC) are the No. 13 seed in the SEC Tournament, hosted by Georgia, and will battle No. 12 seed Kentucky in the first round Wednesday.
“I wanted to win for (the seniors) more than anything,” Clemens said. “They’re the best leaders and are so special to me. That’s what pushed me to keep going throughout the match, no matter what was happening. I was able to close it out and was so happy to be able to celebrate with them on their special day.”
Bulldog men beat Arkansas, secure double bye
MSU closed out the regular season winners of six out of its last seven matches, beating the Razorbacks 4-2 on Sunday.
The No. 12 Bulldogs (17-6, 9-3 SEC) came from behind to take the doubles point. Senior Carles Hernandez and junior Dusan Milanovic won 6-2, and the 16th-ranked duo of sophomores Petar Jovanovic and Benito Sanchez Martinez claimed a 6-4 win. Senior Nemanja Malesevic then won the first completed singles match in straight sets to give MSU a 2-0 lead.
Freshman Roberto Ferrer Guimaraes fell in straight sets to give Arkansas its first point on the day, and the rest of the matches were all three-setters. Jovanovic earned a 6-1, 1-6, 6-3 win to put the Bulldogs on the brink of clinching, and although Sanchez Martinez was unable to wrap things up, Milanovic’s win in a third-set tiebreak secured the MSU victory.
The Bulldogs are the No. 3 seed in the SEC Tournament, hosted by LSU, and will play either No. 6 seed Alabama or No. 11 seed South Carolina in the quarterfinals Friday.
“Today was another great team effort by all of our guys,” MSU head coach Matt Roberts said. “It can be difficult playing at Arkansas in between both sides of the crowd if you let it get to you. But our guys didn’t let anything get to them in this match.”
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