Mississippi State kept its perfect Southeastern Conference doubles record intact and used that strong start to defeat Florida 5-2 at home Saturday.
Juniors Petar Jovanovic and Benito Sanchez Martinez, the Bulldogs’ top doubles pairing and the fourth-ranked pair in the country, got things started with a 6-2 win. Freshman Niccolo Baroni and junior Mario Martinez Serrano at No. 2 doubles, ranked 39th nationally, won 6-4 to wrap up the doubles point for No. 17 MSU. It was the fourth straight match for that duo to clinch the doubles point.
In singles, Martinez Serrano made quick work of his opponent at No. 4, winning 6-2, 6-2. Sophomore Roberto Ferrer Guimaraes lost 2-6, 1-6 at No. 6 as the Gators earned their first point, but Baroni won 6-1, 6-4 at No. 3 to put the Bulldogs on the doorstep of victory. Senior Dusan Milanovic could not wrap things up at No. 5 as he fell 3-6, 4-6, leaving the clinching point to Sanchez Martinez at No. 1 with a 6-3, 6-2 win.
Jovanovic won his match at No. 2 singles for good measure, beating a top-100 individual 7-5, 6-3. MSU (17-4, 7-3 SEC) improved to 15-1 at home and a perfect 5-0 in SEC home matches. Jovanovic and Sanchez Martinez are now 8-0 in conference play as a doubles pairing and have 49 career wins together, third-most in program history. The singles win for Sanchez Martinez was his sixth in a row.
The Bulldogs continue their homestand against No. 12 Texas A&M on Thursday. The Aggies are in second place in the SEC standings, one game ahead of MSU.
Bulldog women fall to South Carolina and Georgia
MSU was competitive Friday in a 4-2 loss to No. 23 South Carolina, but much less so Sunday in a shutout defeat against No. 1 Georgia.
Against the Gamecocks, MSU managed to secure the doubles point for the first time in SEC play. Freshman Emma Cohen and senior Alessia Tagliente earned a 6-2 win at No. 2, and sophomores Jayna Clemens and Chiara Di Genova won 6-4 at No. 3. Di Genova also gave MSU its only singles point with a 6-3, 6-2 victory at No. 6.
Freshman Carolina Troiano at No. 1 and sophomore Athina Pitta at No. 5 both stretched their matches to a third set before coming up short. Clemens took the first set at No. 4 and was leading in the decisive third when her match was abandoned after South Carolina earned its fourth point.
Two days later, MSU was unable to win a set against the top-ranked team in the country. Georgia also has the No. 1 individual singles player, Dasha Vidmanova, who defeated Troiano 6-0, 6-3. Clemens had a chance to win the first set at No. 3 singles when Georgia clinched the match.
MSU (10-11, 0-11 SEC) is at No. 2 Texas A&M on Friday, then comes back home to battle No. 15 Texas on Sunday.
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