Rice University
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Mississippi State
MSU Cuts Rice Rally Short
1/30/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
Robin Haden of Mississippi State won a second-set tiebreaker over Gustavo Gonzalez to deliver the clinching point that slammed the door on a Rice rally, dropping the Owls 4-0 at the A.J. Pitts Tennis Centre in Starkville, Mississippi on Friday afternoon.
"While the score shows 4-0, we were so close to making this a very interesting afternoon of tennis," Rice head coach Efe Ustundag said. "We were one serve away from a win at four and were playing well on the other courts, but Gustavo just came up a little short."
While Haden was securing the win on court six, Adam Gustafsson was at match point, up 40-0 over MSU's Mate Cutura on court four, while freshman Jamie Malik held a 5-4 lead in the second set on court two and sophomore Max Andrews had a set in hand on court three.
The 23rd ranked Bulldogs fought off an early challenge by the Owls to take the doubles point with wins on the first two courts.
"We got off to a solid start, but they stepped it up starting with the fourth game on both courts," Ustundag said.
The Owls will be back on the Pitts Tennis Centre courts on Saturday afternoon when they face 42nd ranked Texas Tech.
Players Mentioned
