Both Mississippi State University men’s and women’s tennis teams had a successful weekend on the tennis court as they swept their competition.
The men got off to a hot start Friday afternoon, upsetting the University of Miami 4-1. Head coach Matt Roberts said in a press release his team performed well, especially in serves and returns which they needed to do to beat Miami.
“When we’re ranked where we are and playing talented teams, we’re going to get everybody’s best shot,” Roberts said. “We have to understand that our opponents are going to fight until the very end.”
The team continued this momentum Sunday as they defeated the University of South Florida by a score of 6-1. Roberts said he was thrilled by how his team played in singles.
“I thought Nuno (Borges) and Strahinja (Rakic) were pushed today on court one and did a great job of bouncing back to put their match in a comfortable position,” Roberts said. “It’s all about controlling our thoughts and our self-talk. Today was another good match for us to commit to that and use that to fuel us.”
The win is the fourth in a row to start the season for the Bulldogs. Gregor Ramskogler, a freshman form Reichraming, Austria, said their success plan is not complicated.
“We’re just keeping it simple,” Ramskogler said. “We have a simple game plan, and execute it pretty well.”
Ramskogler is 4-0 in doubles and earned a cutting for the first time in singles on Sunday. He said he felt he played pretty well in the match.
“My first singles match on the home courts was unbelievable in front of such a good crowd,” Ramskogler said. “I got a little behind in the second set after (Burnette) changed his game plan. I adapted pretty well, responded with a break and served it out well.”
Roberts said the team is enjoying the undefeated start to their season, as all they want improve.
“We grew as a team in these four home matches,” Roberts said. “The guys said that the more matches they get, the tougher they get. That’s so awesome to hear that they just want more matches.”
With this being said, February is shaping up to be a tough one as they play Texas Tech and Tulane on the road and the indoor tennis championships in Chicago. The Bulldogs will return home to play Vanderbilt in March.
“This month is going to be amazing for us to really be challenged with a lot of road matches,” Roberts said. “It’s going to be great for the guys to be tested, and we’re excited about that.”
Women’s tennis
Women’s tennis also performed well this weekend, as they swept Alcorn State 7-0 and 4-0 on Saturday. Greenan said in a press release the team was zeroed-in in.
“Our team did a good job staying focused today,” Greenan said. “We worked on a couple things in practice this week, which we were able to apply in match situations. It was nice being back at home in front of our fans.”
The Lady Bulldogs are at home for the next seven matches, including a doubleheader against Alabama State on Saturday and a game on Sunday against the University of Alabama at Birmingham.
