Tennessee Falls in Championship Final, 4-1, to No. 6 Mississippi State

Sunday, April 21

Gainesville, FL

2 PM

University of Tennessee

#6 Mississippi State

Tennessee Falls in Championship Final, 4-1, to No. 6 Mississippi State

April 21, 2019 | Men's Tennis

Box Score

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – No. 13 Tennessee's run to the SEC Championship falls short as the Vols fall to No. 6 Mississippi State, 4-1, Sunday afternoon in the championship final at Florida's Alfred A. Ring Tennis Complex.

"We're proud of the guys," assistant coach James McKie said. "Mississippi State played really well and earned the title today. We're right there, we're doing big things as a team and individuals are getting better each week."

Tennessee (20-7) dropped the doubles point with losses on courts two and three. The 20th-ranked duo of Giovanni Oradini/Niclas Braun defeated Pat Harper/Andrew Rogers, 6-2, to give Mississippi State the lead in doubles.

On three, Gregor Ramskogler/Trevor Foshey clinched doubles for MSU as they took down the Aussie duo of Scott Jones/Adam Walton, 6-2.

Court one's match between the No. 10 duo of Timo Stodder/Preston Touliatos and 3rd-ranked Nuno Borges/Strahinja Rakic went unfinished at, 4-4.

The Vols and Bulldogs battled for control in singles as they split the first two points at courts six and five. Court six finished first with Rogers cruising by Florian Broska, 6-3, 6-2, and tied the match up at 1-1.

Shortly after, court five finished up as Foshey defeated Martim Prata, 6-4, 6-3, securing the Bulldogs second point of the match.

At number three, Jones and Rakic dueled back-and-forth in a match that saw a multitude of tie games and deuce points. Rakic took the first set 6-3, but Jones fought back in the second exchanging game wins until the very end when Rakic put together back-to-back game wins to claim victory in the second set, 7-5.

No. 28 Stodder and No. 2 Borges met again at center court, splitting the opening two sets of the match fairly convincingly. Stodder won the first four games of the opening set on his way to winning the set, 6-2. He handed Borges just his fifth set loss this season.

Borges responded by winning the second, 6-2, setting up a deciding third set. Borges won the third, 6-3, clinching the match and SEC title for Mississippi State.

It is the Bulldogs' (22-3) second SEC Championship win in-a-row in their third consecutive title match appearance.

Two matches went unfinished at courts two and four. On two, No. 61 Oradini won the first set over No. 71 Walton, 6-4, but Walton came back in the second and had a, 5-4, lead when the match was clinched.

At court three, Luca Wiedenmann and Braun battled into a tiebreak in the first set with Braun edging out Wiedenmann, 7-6 (7-3). They had played just three games with Wiedenmann leading, 2-1, when the match finished.

"It's time to regroup and get back to Knoxville," McKie said. "The NCAA Tournament is up next and we're going to be ready to go once again."

After the match, Jones and Walton were recognized for their performances this weekend as they earned spots on the SEC All-Tournament Team. Both Jones and Walton won two matches in singles and teamed up for a win in doubles against Georgia in the quarterfinal.

Walton also put the finishing touches on Tennessee's rally against Florida in the semifinal as he defeated Sam Riffice, 3-6, 6-3, 7-5, to punch the Vols' ticket to the championship match.

It is the first time since 2013 that UT had two players make the All-Tournament team. That year saw Mikelis Libietis and Hunter Reese earn spots on the team.

"Both won twice in singles which is huge," McKie said. "And to be honest, the top four right now are really clicking. Timo, Adam, Scotty and Luca are playing at a very high level. I'm very proud of Andrew for getting that win down on six today but our top four can play with anyone in the country. I hope they believe that and hope they see it."

UP NEXT
Tennessee will find out its placement in the NCAA Tournament on April 29th when the tournament bracket is announced. The selections will be announced on the NCAA website beginning at 6 p.m. ET. Seeding for individuals and doubles teams will be announced on April 30.

BOX SCORE
#13 Tennessee 1, #6 Mississippi State 4
Singles
1. #3 Nuno Borges (MSU) def. #28 Timo Stodder (UT) 2-6, 6-2, 6-3
2. #61 Giovanni Oradini (MSU) vs. #71 Adam Walton (UT) 6-4, 4-5, unfinished
3. Strahinja Rakic (MSU) def. Scott Jones (UT) 6-3, 7-5
4. Niclas Braun (MSU) vs. Luca Wiedenmann (UT) 7-6 (7-3), 2-1, unfinished
5. Trevor Foshey (MSU) def. Martim Prata (UT) 6-4, 6-3
6. Andrew Rogers (UT) def. Florian Broska (MSU) 6-3, 6-2

Doubles
1. #3 Nuno Borges/Strahinja Rakic (MSU) vs. #10 Timo Stodder/Preston Touliatos (UT) 4-4, unfinished
2. #20 Giovanni Oradini/Niclas Braun (MSU) def. Pat Harper/Andrew Rogers (UT) 6-2
3. Gregor Ramskogler/Trevor Foshey (MSU) def. Scott Jones/Adam Walton (UT) 6-2

Order of Finish: Doubles (2,3); Singles (6,5,3,1)