Blue Raiders shut out Southern Miss and Tennessee State

Monday, January 17

1:00 p.m.

Middle Tennessee

Southern Mississippi

1/17/2022 8:48:00 PM | Men's Tennis

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

By: Alex Morgan, MT Athletic Communications

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – Middle Tennessee men's tennis completed two shut outs against Conference USA opponent Southern Miss (0-1) 7-0 and Tennessee State (0-1) 7-0 Monday at the Adams Tennis Complex.

"First dual match of the year, kind of get it out of the way, the freshman are kind of just figuring out how this whole thing works," said head coach Jimmy Borendame. "The team looked good, this was a good start for our program. I wanted to get the new guys as much experience as possible."

With the victories on Monday, Middle Tennessee extends the nations longest active home winning streak to 31 straight wins since February of 2019. Over the past four seasons, MT holds a 49-6 record inside the Adams Tennis Complex. Coach Borendame moves to 16-1 in season openers through 12 seasons at the helm of the Blue Raiders.

Middle Tennessee kicked off the 2022 Spring season facing off with Southern Miss, who is one of the eight teams who participates in C-USA men's tennis. To begin doubles play, Graduate Students Chris Edge and Stepan Holis jumped the Golden Eagles duo in their doubles match 6-2. USM blanked Francisco Rocha and Oskar Brostrom Poulsen 3-6 on the top court to equalize the doubles match at 1-1. However, Senior Stijn Slump and Freshman John Chin, who made his collegiate debut, won their match 6-3 finishing third and clinching the doubles point for Middle Tennessee.

In singles, the Blue Raiders were relentless on the courts winning 12 out of 13 sets throughout that portion of the dual match. Like doubles, Edge was the first to finish on court No. 3 (6-1, 6-2) to extend the MT lead to two. Freshman Brostrom Poulsen finished second on court No. 5 (6-2, 6-2). No. 82 Rocha triumphed in two close sets (6-4, 6-4), clinching the match point and giving the Blue Raiders the four point threshold needed to win the match. To round out the Blue Raiders last three points, No. 30 Slump won (6-2, 6-4), No. 104 Holis won (7-6 [7-3], 6-3), and Chin won in three sets (2-6, 6-2, 10-6) dropping the only set in the Blue Raiders singles competition.

Against Tennessee State, it was all Blue Raiders from the start. Freshman Mattia Bernardi made his collegiate debut in doubles, he was paired with Slump and come out with a 6-2 victory on court No. 2. Holis and Edge earned their second doubles win on the day with a 6-1 triumph on court No. 3, giving MT the doubles point over the Tigers.

To round out the day, Middle Tennessee won all six doubles matches in two sets, defeating TSU 7-0 and moving on to 2-0 on the season. Coach Borendame mixed up the singles rotation to familiarize freshman into the collegiate tennis circuit. Freshman Lucas Olivier and Bernardi also made their singles debut, Olivier won in two sets on court No. 6 (6-2, 6-3) and Bernardi on court No. 5 (6-3, 6-2)

Next up
The Blue Raiders have three days off from competition before hosting another double-header this Friday, Jan. 21 at the Adams Tennis Complex against North Alabama (0-2) at noon and Coach Borendame's alma mater Butler (0-1) at 5 p.m. CT

Singles results (vs. Southern Miss)
1. #30 SLUMP, Stijn (MTSU) def. Dhruv Sunish (USM) 6-2, 6-4
2. #82 ROCHA, Francisco (MTSU) def. Shamirul Shahril (USM) 6-4, 6-4
3. EDGE, Chris (MTSU) def. Alexander Gima (USM) 6-1, 6-2
4. #106 HOLIS, Stepan (MTSU) def. Antoine Audrain (USM) 7-6 (7-3), 6-3
5. POULSEN, Oskar (MTSU) def. Alan Sanson (USM) 6-2, 6-2
6. CHIN, John (MTSU) def. Christopher Cahour (USM) 2-6, 6-2, 10-2
Order of finish: (3,1,2)

Doubles results (vs. Southern Miss)
1. Dhruv Sunish/Shamirul Shahril (USM) def. ROCHA, Francisco/POULSEN, Oskar (MTSU) 6-3
2. CHIN, John/SLUMP, Stijn (MTSU) def. Alan Sanson/Alexander Gima (USM) 6-3
3. HOLIS, Stepan/EDGE, Chris (MTSU) def. Antoine Audrain/Pasawee Reansuwong (USM) 6-2
Order of finish: (3,5,2,1,4,6)

Singles results (vs. Tennessee St.)
1. #82 ROCHA, Francisco (MTSU) def. Pierre Copin (TSU) 6-2, 6-0
2. EDGE, Chris (MTSU) def. Nil Moinet (TSU) 6-0, 6-1
3. POULSEN, Oskar (MTSU) def. Diego Britt-Alvarez (TSU) 6-1, 6-3
4. CHIN, John (MTSU) def. Daniel Caraballo (TSU) 6-0, 6-3
5. BERNARDI, Mattia (MTSU) def. Maksims Kazijevs (TSU) 6-3, 6-2
6. OLIVIER, Lucas (MTSU) def. Leandros Misdrachis (TSU) 6-2, 6-3
Order of finish: (2,3)

Doubles results (vs. Tennessee St.)
1. ROCHA, Francisco/POULSEN, Oskar (MTSU) vs. Pierre Copin/Daniel Caraballo (TSU) 4-2, unfinished
2. BERNARDI, Mattia/SLUMP, Stijn (MTSU) def. Diego Britt-Alvarez/Nil Moinet (TSU) 6-2
3. EDGE, Chris/HOLIS, Stepan (MTSU) def. Leandros Misdrachis/Maksims Kazijevs (TSU) 6-1
Order of finish: Singles (2,1,6,3,5,4)