Men's Tennis

ATHENS, GA. – After overcoming a 2-0 deficit late, Mississippi State men's tennis sophomore Nuno Borges won a threeset thriller over Kentucky's No. 17 William Bushamuka to become MSU's first player since 2002 to reach the NCAA Singles Championship quarterfinals.

Second-seeded Borges downed Bushamuka 6-4. 4-6, 6-2 on Friday, while fellow sophomores Niclas Braun and Trevor Foshey fell to fourth-seeded Skander Mansouri and Christian Seraphim of Wake Forest 6-1. 7-5.

“I am proud of the fight our guys showed (Friday), especially from Nuno,” MSU head coach Matt Roberts said. “He took over that match and when he's playing like that it's very fun to watch. We're also proud of Nic and Trevor with their play (Friday). All three guys have battled all season and what they've accomplished as just sophomore is pretty incredible.”

Borges will face No. 9-16 seed and 13thranked nationally Mansouri today with a trip to Sunday's semifinals on the line. The two have met twice already this season, with Mansouri taking the first decision at the ITA All-Americans in October and Borges earning redemption at the ITA National Indoors in early November. First serve for today's rubber match will be at 11 a.m.

Friday's win over Bushamuka was also a dose of redemption for Borges after he dropped a tough battle to the Wildcat in Lexington on March 18. This time around, Borges began the contest with momentum as he took the opening frame 6-4. Bushamuka bounced back and earn a set by the same margin to force it to a third. Bushamuka began the third set by taking the first two games, but that was all Borges allowed as he reeled off six in a row to clinch a 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 victory.

Borges became just the sixth Bulldog player in program history to advance past the round of 16 and the first since Thomas Dupre in 2002. The win also moved Borges (35-6) into sole possession of fourth-place all-time at MSU for most wins in a singles season. The ranked victory for Borges gives him 25 on the season and 30 for his career.

In State's second match of the day, the No. 8 pair of Braun and Foshey couldn't overcome their slow start to get past fourthseeded Mansouri and Seraphim. The Demon Deacons grabbed the opening set, before overtaking the Bulldog duo in the second set to win 6-1, 7-5. Braun and Foshey finished their sophomore campaign with a 20-14 record overall, while earning 11 ranked wins in the process. On Thursday, Braun and Foshey became MSU's first pair to advance to the NCAA Doubles Championship Round of 16 since Jordan Angus and Malte Stropp did it in 2014.

Track and Field

LEXINGTON, Kentucky. – Indoor AllAmerican Logan Boss punched the fifth Mississippi State ticket to the NCAA Track and Field Championships Friday afternoon, where she will look to become the first Bulldog athlete to garner both indoor and outdoor All-America status in the same season since USA track and field star Erica Bougard did so in 2015.

Boss, who owns both the indoor and outdoor school records for high jump, placed third in the day's competition with a best mark of 1.82 meters. Boss finished third overall at the NCAA indoor championships in March with a program best 1.90-meter jump.

Ro'Derick Spears moved on to the quarterfinal round of the 110-meter hurdles after running 13.96 for a 16th place finish.

Several Bulldogs saw their season's end just shy of a berth at Nationals, with Rasheed Tatham missing the cut by a mere .05 of a second after running 51.22 for 13th.

Stephan James and Keturah Smith each picked up 17th place finishes in the men's and women's 400-meter finals. James ran 46.82, while Smith checked in at 52.95

“I am proud of Logan for making it to Nationals for the second time this season,” MSU coach Steve Dudley said. “She put so much work in during the offseason, and I am really happy to see it pay off for her. We had some really great performances (Friday), and saw a lot of athletes right on the edge of making it through. Luckily a lot of them will be back next year, and we are excited to get the chance to work with them and help them take that next step in their careers. ”

On Thursday, four Bulldogs secured spots for the NCAA Track and Field Championships as they took on day one of the NCAA East Preliminary round.

Competing against teams from all across the eastern United States, athletes with marks inside the top 12 qualify for the NCAA Championships to square off against the competition out west.

Curtis Thompson and Nicolas Quijera were the first MSU athletes to punch their tickets to Eugene, placing second and fourth in the javelin competition at 73.22 meters and 68.60 meters, respectively. Curtis Thompson will look to defend his NCAA crown after becoming the first Bulldog javelin champion in 2016. Quijera will make his first trip to Eugene after capturing the Spanish national title last year.

Willie Reed also grabbed a Eugene ticket, placing sixth in the long jump with a mark of 7.60 meters. Leah Lott qualified on the women's side of the long jump, leaping 6.25 meters for 12th.

In the day's running preliminary events, six Bulldogs advanced to the quarterfinal round. From there, the top 12 marks will qualify for Eugene.

Rasheed Tatham ran 52.25 and placed second in his heat of the 400-meter hurdles, finishing 17th overall and earning a spot in the quarterfinal. Lawrence Crawford qualified in the 100-meter dash at 10.34 seconds, while Stephan James ran 47.23 in the 400-meter dash to earn a spot in the quarterfinal round.

Rhianwedd and Ffion Price each moved on to the quarterfinal round in the 1500-meter run, with Rhianwedd running 4:20.81 for sixth while Ffion ran 4:23.54 for 19th. Keturah Smith rounded out the Bulldog runners to advance from Thursday with a 400-meter dash time of 53.86.