The Mississippi State University men’s tennis team hosted Louisiana State University in the Rula Tennis Pavilion on Friday for a chance to keep up their win streak.
The competition started off shaky as the Bulldogs let the first doubles point slip through their hands. However, the team brought it back to win the match and sweep the singles in a 6-1 victory over the No. 45 Tigers.
The victory led the Bulldogs to a 14-1 home record and marked the seventh time this season they have defeated opponents after giving up the doubles point.
Head coach Matt Roberts believed he home-court advantage seemingly worked in the Bulldogs’ favor.
“You have to play super-sharp tennis to get any sort of road wins in the SEC,” Roberts said. “Here, it just feels a little less stressful and comfortable for you to be able to dig in.”
Roberts also applauded the resilience and determination shown by the Bulldogs during this match and throughout the season so far.
“I’m just really happy with how all six courts compete consistently. I don’t think I’ve ever had a team like this, the way we trust each other each match to fight,” Roberts said. “They are going to play every point as tough as they can.”
The singles sweep began when graduate No. 93 Ewen Lumsden bested LSU’s Welsh Hotard 6-3, putting Lumsden at 10-2 in his last 12 singles matches.
Freshman Benito Sanchez Martinez followed up Lumsden’s win with his 20th season win after defeating George Stoupe 7-5, 6-3, and bringing MSU to a 2-1 lead over the Tigers.
The Bulldogs racked up another win when junior No. 125 Carles Hernandez defeated No. 101 Chen Dong 4-6, 6-0, 6-2, which was his fifth-ranked win of the season.
Graduate Gregor Ramskogler continued the domination by clinching the match with a three-set win against Julien Penzlin. All thanks to the Bulldog faithful, this match clinch meant a little more to the graduate student from Austria.
“Every clinch is awesome, but this one was even more special because that was for sure the best crowd that we’ve had. There were some times when they erupted that I thought the roof was going to collapse,” Ramskogler said. “They were extremely loud, and a lot of people stuck around for a very long time. That just made it even more special. I tried to do it for them, and it feels good.”
Ramskogler had even more of a reason to celebrate once freshman Petar Jovanovic bested Stefan Latinovic 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(6). Junior No. 118 Nemanja Malesevic secured the sweep over No. 78 Ronnie Hohmann, earning his seventh win over a ranked opponent this season.
Mississippi State advanced to an 18-5 record on the season and 6-4 in the Southeastern Conference. The Bulldogs will play their final match at home Sunday at 1 p.m. against the Arkansas Razorbacks, and the team will recognize and honor their senior class before the start of the match.