STARKVILLE, Miss. — Despite taking the doubles point against the #9 Mississippi State Bulldogs, the Pepperdine men's tennis team couldn't quite pull off the upset at the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Kickoff Weekend, held in Starkville, Miss. on Saturday.
The Waves (1-2) played an inspired doubles point highlighted by a big, 6-1 upset win from Maxi Homberg and Linus Carlsson Halldin over #20 Niccolo Baroni and Mario Martinez Serrano. That win set the tone for the Waves, which saw Aleksa Pisaric and Lasse Poertner clinch the doubles point with a 6-3 win over Dusan Milanovic and Michal Novansky at the third position.
However, the Bulldogs stormed back in singles by winning four first sets that shifted momentum away from the Waves.
After winning two first-set tiebreakers on courts one and five, the Bulldogs took a 2-1 lead on the Waves. Although #36 Homberg and Poertner pushed their matches to third sets on courts two and four, respectively, Mississippi State clinched the match on court two with #103 Benito Sanchez Martinez's three-set victory. When Sanchez Martinez clinched, the Waves were battling in the third set in all remaining matches.
Mississippi State improved to 6-0 with the win. They will face #22 NC State tomorrow with a ticket to the ITA National Team Indoor Championships on the line.
Pepperdine, meanwhile, wraps up the ITA Kickoff Weekend with a match against LSU tomorrow at 8 a.m. PT. All schedule updates can be found on the men's tennis team's schedule page on pepperdinewaves.com.
RESULTS
Singles
1. #45 Petar Jovanovic (MS) def. Edward Winter (PEPP) 7-6 (3), 6-3
2. #103 Benito Sanchez Martinez (MS) def. #36 Maxi Homberg (PEPP) 3-6, 6-1, 6-2
3. Dusan Milanovic (MS) vs. Linus Carlsson Halldin (PEPP) 6-3, 3-6, 5-0, unfinished
4. #72 Niccolo Baroni (MS) def. Lasse Poertner (PEPP) 2-6, 6-1, 6-2
5. #81 Mario Martinez Serrano (MS) def. Aleksa Pisaric (PEPP) 7-6 (3), 6-3
6. Roberto Ferrer Guimaraes (MS) vs. David Fix (PEPP) 7-5, 4-6, 1-1, unfinished
Order of finish: 1,5,4,2*
Doubles
1. #9 Petar Jovanovic/Benito Sanchez Martinez (MS) vs. Edward Winter/Hugh Winter (PEPP) 5-2, unfinished
2. Linus Carlsson Halldin/Maxi Homberg (PEPP) def. #20 Niccolo Baroni/Mario Martinez Serrano (MS) 6-1
3. Lasse Poertner/Aleksa Pisaric (PEPP) def. Dusan Milanovic/Michal Novansky (MS) 6-3
Order of finish: 2,3*
