Mississippi State was dealt its first two setbacks of the season at the ITA Kickoff Weekend in Starkville, with the No. 12 Bulldogs falling 4-3 to Virginia Commonwealth on Saturday and 4-1 to No. 25 Florida State on Sunday.
Despite a dominant 6-1 victory at No. 2 doubles by Carles Hernandez and Dusan Milanovic, the Rams grabbed the doubles point over MSU as the Bulldogs’ top pairing of Petar Jovanovic and Benito Sanchez Martinez was shut out and the No. 3 duo of Marshall Landry and Nemanja Malesevic lost 6-3.
MSU won the opening set in five of the six singles matches, but squandered the lead in two of them to drop the match. Malesevic and Jovanovic each won the first set 6-1 before falling in three, and Jovanovic was beaten 6-4, 6-4. Hernandez, Sanchez and Radomir Tomic all won their singles matches in straight sets, though Hernandez and Tomic required a tiebreak in the second set.
The loss dropped the Bulldogs into the consolation match Sunday, and after Arizona State beat Florida State in Saturday’s later match, MSU was again matched up with the Seminoles, whom the Bulldogs had beaten 6-1 just nine days earlier. This time, Hernandez and Milanovic lost 6-2 at No. 2 doubles, and Landry and Malesevic fell in a tiebreak to give Florida State the opening point.
Sanchez dominated his singles match 6-1, 6-3 at No. 5 to even the score, but MSU was unable to pull out a victory anywhere else. Tomic lost in straight sets at No. 6, Jovanovic fell in a second-set tiebreak at No. 1, and Milanovic let his match at No. 3 slip away after taking the first set.
The Bulldogs (4-2) hit the road for the first time this season Friday for a matchup with Middle Tennessee. MSU defeated the Blue Raiders 4-2 in the second round of last year’s NCAA Tournament in Starkville.
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