No. 16 Sooners Drop Road Battle to No. 22 Mississippi State

Saturday, March 8

Starkville, MS

1 p.m.

University of Oklahoma

Mississippi State

Photo by: Jacob Wood/University of Oklahoma

No. 16 Sooners Drop Road Battle to No. 22 Mississippi State

March 08, 2025 | Men's Tennis

Box Score

NORMAN – The No. 16 Oklahoma men's tennis team fell short in a road battle to the No. 22 Mississippi State Bulldogs on Saturday afternoon. The Sooners are now 10-4 on the season and 3-2 in conference play.

For the first time in SEC action, the Sooners dropped the doubles point. Kholo Montsi and Luis Alvarez tied their match at 4-all, but ultimately fell 6-4 at the No. 2 spot. Facing the No. 4 ranked doubles team in the nation, Oscar Lacides and Bruno Nhavene fought to tie their match at 4-4. The duo dropped their final two games to give MSU the 1-0 lead headed into singles.

Going to into singles behind for just the second time this season, the Sooners battled in their fourth straight ranked matchup.

The Bulldogs took a 2-0 lead after Montsi dropped his match, 1-6, 4-6, but Alvarez earned a dominant win on court four, 6-4, 6-1, to cut the MSU lead in half.

Nhavene narrowly dropped his match, 4-6, 4-6, at the No. 6 line to give MSU a 3-1 lead. Jordan Hasson had the Sooners back in the match with a gritty 7-6(4), 6-4) win at No. 5 to pull OU within one.

Battling in his second set, Orel Kimhi fell 4-6, 4-6 at No. 3 to give the Bulldogs the victory. The final match was played out as Lacides forced a deciding third set before falling short 4-6, 6-4, 5-7.

UP NEXT

The Sooners travel for two more conference road matches. OU takes on Auburn on Thursday, March 13, at noon CT before heading to South Carolina to take on the Gamecocks on Saturday, March 15, at 11 a.m. CT.

RESULTS

#22 Mississippi State 5, #16 Oklahoma 2

Singles competition

1. #72 B. Sanchez Martinez (MSU) def. #76 Oscar Lacides (OU) 6-4, 4-6, 7-5
2. #88 Petar Jovanovic (MSU) def. Kholo Montsi (OU) 6-1, 6-4
3. #125 Niccolo Baroni (MSU) def. Orel Kimhi (OU) 6-4, 6-4
4. Luis Alvarez (OU) def. Dusan Milanovic (MSU) 6-4, 6-1
5. Jordan Hasson (OU) def. #92 M. Martinez Serrano (MSU) 7-6 (7-4), 6-4
6. R. Ferrer Guimaraes (MSU) def. Bruno Nhavene (OU) 6-4, 6-4

Doubles competition

1. #4 Petar Jovanovic/B. Sanchez Martinez (MSU) def. #39 Oscar Lacides/Bruno Nhavene (OU) 6-4
2. #29 Niccolo Baroni/M. Martinez Serrano (MSU) def. Luis Alvarez/Kholo Montsi (OU) 6-4
3. Dusan Milanovic/Michal Novansky (MSU) vs. Asahi Harazaki/Alejandro Melero (OU) 6-5, unfinished

Match Notes:
Oklahoma 10-4. 3-2 SEC; National ranking #16
Mississippi State 13-3, 3-2 SEC; National ranking #22
Order of finish: Doubles (2,1); Singles (2,4,6,5,3,1)