By Dylan Vazzano, TTU Sports Information
STARKVILLE, Miss. – The Tennessee Tech tennis team secured a pair of singles wins, but a powerful punch at the top of the No. 21 Mississippi State lineup proved to be too much for the Golden Eagles in a 5-2 loss Sunday afternoon.
Elias Grubert won for the second-straight day to begin his sophomore season with a 6-2, 7-6 nod over nationally-ranked Davide Tortora out of the No. 4 slot, while junior Riku Kubota claimed a 6-1, 4-6, 6-1 victory against Jonas Hartenstein in the No. 5 position to account for the two Tech points.
Kubota's triumph was one of three singles clashes to go three sets. Newcomer Ezven Holis dropped a three-set affair with a 4-6, 6-4, 1-6 loss to Gregor Ramskogler in the No. 5 spot and Lucca Silva was upended, 4-6, 6-3, 4-6, by Isaac Becroft in the No. 6 matchup.
No. 15 Giovanni Oradini and Florian Broska paced the Bulldogs (4-0) at the top of the lineup with victories out of the first two positions. Oradini powered past Rafael Tosetto with a 6-3, 6-1 nod in the No. 1 battle, while Broska took home a 6-0, 6-4 win against Carlos Vicente in the No. 2 meeting.
The Golden Eagles (0-2) managed a win in the No. 2 doubles position behind a Riku Kubota and Lucca Sliva 6-2 triumph over Giovanni Oradini and Davide Tortora, but MSU collected victories in the other two get-togethers to capture the doubles point. Florian Broska and Nicolas Ocana carded a 6-3 win over Ezven Holis and Carlos Vicente in the top spot and Alberto Colas and Gregor Ramskogler notched a 6-3 nod against Marc Mila and Rafael Tosetto in the No. 3 battle.
Tech will continue a challenging season-opening slate with a third-straight match against a "Power 5" opponent, as the Golden Eagles head to Wake Forest on Saturday, Jan. 18 for the club's next contest. First serve in Winston-Salem, N.C. is scheduled for a 5 p.m. CT.
Photo by Tony Marable