COLLEGE STATION, S.C. — No. 7 Mississippi State earned a significant road victory Friday, defeating No. 14 South Carolina 4-3 at the Carolina Outdoor Tennis Center in Columbia, according to athletic officials.
The Bulldogs took an early lead by winning the doubles point with victories on courts one and three. Petar Jovanovic and Benito Sanchez Martinez, ranked No. 5 in doubles, defeated No. 10 Lucas Andrade de Silva and Paul Barbier Gazeu 6-3 on court one. Roberto Ferrer Guimaraes and Bryan Hernandez Cortes teamed up for a 6-3 win over Atakan Karahan and Charlie Swaine on court three. The duo of Jovanovic and Sanchez Martinez extended their winning streak to five matches with this victory.
Mississippi State then pulled ahead in singles action, with No. 8 Jovanovic beating No. 40 Daryabeigi 6-3, 6-3 on court two. Raphael Vaksmann added another point with a 6-2, 6-4 victory over Max Stenzer on court five. South Carolina responded with three straight wins on courts three, one, and six, leveling the match at 3-3 and setting up a decisive match on court four.
Niccolo Baroni delivered the clincher for Mississippi State, defeating Atakan Karahan 6-7 (3-7), 6-1, 6-2 in the final singles match. This marked Baroni’s third match-winning performance of the season. The victory improves Mississippi State’s record to 14-2 overall and 5-1 in Southeastern Conference play, while South Carolina falls to 10-4 and 3-3 in the SEC.
Mississippi State has now defeated five of six SEC opponents and secured its third top-15 victory of the season. The Bulldogs will next face Florida in Gainesville on March 15 at 11 a.m. CT at the Alfred A. Ring Tennis Complex.
