Banner season leads to more SEC honors for the Bulldogs
A 3-0 week where the Mississippi State Bulldogs defeated Alabama at home and Missouri twice on the road has led to more Southeastern Conference weekly recognition for a pair of players.
Rebecca Walk was chosen SEC Player and Co-offensive Player of the Week, while Gabby Coulter was select4ed SEC Setter of the Week.
For the fourth time in State history, the program
ATLANTA, Ga. – The Atlanta Braves were not the only team in town celebrating a championship over the weekend.
Mississippi State’s Florian Broska claimed a title as well after posting a 3-0 singles record to win the GT Invite. Broska never lost a set during the three-day event and closed out his championship with a 6-4, 6-4 victory over Georgia Tech’s Keshav Chopra on Sunday.
The 27th-ranked Broska began the tournament by beating Ole Miss’ John Hallquist Lithén 6-2, 7-6(7) on Friday and followed up with a 6-3, 6-2 win over Chen Dong of the Yellow Jackets the next day.
Broska also had his share of success in doubles as well, posting a 2-1 record for the weekend has a SEC Player of the Week. It was the first weekly honor for Coulter.
“I am so proud for both Becca and Gabby to get some recognition from the SEC this week,” MSU head coach Julie Darty Dennis said in a school release. “We are just excited to come home with two more wins under our belt and proud that there were some great individual performances to get two gritty team wins on the road.” with partner Gregor Ramskogler. The sixth-ranked duo closed out a 6-3 victory over Dong and Ángel Guerrero Melgar on Sunday.
In all, the Bulldogs tallied six wins on the day with No. 36 Nemanja Malesevic and No. 54 Davide Tortora each posting a singles win and combining for a doubles victory as well.
Malesevic defeated the Rebels’ Walker Stearns 7-5, 6-0 and Tortora dispatched Georgia State’s Diego Padilha 6-3, 6-1. Malesevic and Tortora also teamed up for a 7-6(4) win over Lithén and Stearns.
Carles Hernandez also collected a singles win for MSU over Georgia State’s Edward Tymes.
Hernandez and Alberto Colas fell 6-2 in doubles to Tymes and his partner Patrick Lazo. Ramskogler dropped his singles match to
The Bulldogs extended their winning streak to eight matches and Walk was a big part of that success at Missouri. She generated a .523 hitting percentage and collected 1.08 blocks per set as a three-rotation middle blocker.
Walk registered a careerhigh 14 kills as MSU reached the 20-win mark with the 3-1 Sunday win against Missouri.
As far as Coulter’s contribution, she had 14.33 kills per set and a .303 hitting
Jakob Cardonau of Ole Miss 6-4, 6-3 and Colas had to retire leading Lazo 5-4 in the second set after losing the first 6-2.
Mississippi State will start its spring season with a six match homestand starting with Tennessee Tech on Jan. 14.
Women’s Tennis
Mississippi State’s women’s tennis team closed out the John Cade Invitational with three solid singles wins, including two women winning their respective draws.
Magda Adaloglou was down 2-5 in the first set against Kylie Bitchev of Georgia Tech, but went on to win 11 of the next 13 points to emerge victorious 7-5, 6-2.
“This was a great weekend for all of us,” Adaloglou said. “It builds [our] confidence. We have percentage during the week for the Bulldogs. She provided 27 assists, eight digs and a career-high tying three aces at Missouri.
With their 20-2 mark, MSU is receiving votes in this week’s AVCA Top 25 Coaches Poll entering a key two-match home stretch against Tennessee this weekend.
The Bulldogs and the 24th-ranked Lady Volunteers play a pair of 1 p.m. matches Saturday and Sunday at Newell-grissom Building. a very good team and we are capable of doing good things. From the beginning of the fall, each one of us has gotten better.”
With her six victories this weekend, Adaloglou moved into fifth place all-time in total victories at Mississippi State with 132 career victories.
One court over, Chloé Cirotte dropped her first set against Ole Miss’ Rachel Krzyzak. However, Cirotte caught fire to win the next two to secure a 2-6, 6-4, 6-1 win.
Both Adaloglou and Cirotte won their respective draws in singles play.
In the Rula Pavilion, Alexandra Mikhailuk battled Andrea Burguete Beltran from Denver and won in a back-and-forth three-set affair 4-6, 6-1, 6-3.
No. 22 Emmanouela Antonaki fought hard, but fell in a close three-set match against Memphis’ Camila Romero 6-4, 1-6, 7-5. However, with her four wins this weekend, Antonaki moved into an eighth-place in total victories at
MSU with 119.
In the championship of her draw, Tamara Racine was defeated by Mahak Jain of Georgia Tech 7-5, 6-1.