Hogs Fall On the Road to No. 17 Mississippi State

STARKVILLE, Miss. – The No. 38 Arkansas men’s tennis team (14-10, 3-7) dropped its road match to No. 17 Mississippi State (16-4, 6-3), falling 7-0 Thursday afternoon at A.J. Pitts Tennis Centre.

In doubles play, the Bulldogs took the early advantage with a win on court three, as Milanovic/Novansky defeated Brendan Boland and Marino Jakic, 6-2. Mississippi State claimed the doubles point after a 6-4 victory from No. 39 Baroni/Martinez Serrano over Božo Barun and Benni Emesz as the No. 2 position. No. 48 Connor Smillie and Jakub Vrba’s match at the top spot went unfinished with the Razorback duo leading No. 4 Jovanovic/Sanchez Martinez, 5-4.

The Bulldogs carried their momentum into singles play, winning the first set on all six courts. On court one, No. 38 Sanchez Martinez grabbed a straight-set victory against Barun, while Arthur Bellegy dropped his match to No. 95 Martinez Serrano in straight sets at the No. 4 position. Mississippi State clinched the match on court six as Ferrer Guimaraes bested Boland, 6-2, 6-2.

At the No. 5 position, Smillie fell in his match to Milanovic, 2-6, 4-6, as the remaining courts were played out. Vrba dropped a second-set tiebreak to No. 100 Jovanovic en route to a 3-6, 6-7 (5) loss on court two. The Bulldogs secured the sweep after a tight two-set battle at the No. 3 position as No. 117 Baroni defeated Emesz, 7-6 (0), 7-6 (6).

The Hogs travel to Auburn, Ala. for the second part of their road stint on Saturday, March 29 to face the No. 31 Tigers at 1 p.m. and Alabama State at 5:30 p.m.

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