Blue Raiders Rally After Doubles Competition and Defeat Oklahoma State

Sunday, March 6

Stillwater, Okla.

1:00 p.m.

Middle Tennessee

Oklahoma State

Photo by: Emily Cole/MT Athletic Communications

3/6/2022 6:03:00 PM | Men's Tennis

Box Score

By: Alex Morgan, MT Athletic Communications

STILLWATER, Okla. – No. 15 Middle Tennessee (15-3, 1-0) rallied after dropping the doubles point, claiming all six singles courts and defeating Oklahoma State at 6-1 inside the Greenwood Tennis Center.

"This was a very tough road win, Oklahoma State is way better than their current ranking indicates," said Head Coach Jimmy Borendame. "Their fans were rowdy and energetic and made it tough on the guys. Keep an eye on this team as they will sneak up on teams the remainder of this season. We stayed positive and credit to our guys for competing well." Borendame said.

With the win, the Blue Raiders earned their seventh power 5 win on the season and have now defeated an opponent in all power 5 conferences. At 15-3, MT has now tied its best start to a season since 1997. The Blue Raiders will need six more consecutive wins to tie the best record in MT history, which was set by the 1979 squad coached by Dick LaLance, they finished their season at 21-3.

Against Oklahoma State, the Cowboys started the match off hot, taking two of three doubles courts giving them the one-point advantage heading into singles. Stijn Slump and Pavel Motl gained thrilling victory on court No. 2 at 7-6 (7-5). Chris Edge and Stepan Holis fell in heartbreaking fashion on three at 7-6 (8-6) after being down by as much at three points.

In singles, MT flipped the script and took five of six first sets over OSU. Freshman Oskar Brostrom Poulsen returned to form in today's match after recovering from a wrist injury suffered in the win over No. 24 Auburn, he won on court No. 5 in two sets to equalize the match at one.

Motl, Edge, and Holis finished nearly simultaneously to put Middle Tennessee at the four-point threshold needed to win the match.

Coaches elected to finish out the remaining two courts, No. 80 Slump and No. 115 Rocha both won in three sets and MT completed a singles sweep of their Cowboy opponents across the net for their seventh singles sweep against opponents this year.

Next Up
The Blue Raiders will head to Tampa, Fla. to square off with No. 69 South Florida on Thursday, March 10 at 1:30 p.m. CT.

Singles Competition
1. #80 Stijn Slump (MTSU) def. Tyler Zink (OSU) 6-3, 2-6, 6-4
2. #115 Francisco Rocha (MTSU) def. Alex Garcia (OSU) 7-5, 3-6, 6-4
3. Chris Edge (MTSU) def. Seb Nothhaft (OSU) 7-6 (7-2), 1-6, 7-5
4. Stepan Holis (MTSU) def. Max Verboven (OSU) 6-2, 3-6, 6-3
5. Oskar Brostrom (MTSU) def. Leighton Allen (OSU) 6-3, 7-6 (7-4)
6. Pavel Motl (MTSU) def. Fran Pini (OSU) 2-6, 6-0, 6-4
Singles (5,6,3,4,1,2)

Doubles Competition
1. Seb Nothhaft/Tyler Zink (OSU) def. #23 Francisco Rocha/Oskar Brostrom (MTSU) 6-3
2. Stijn Slump/Pavel Motl (MTSU) def. Alex Garcia/Max Verboven (OSU) 7-6 (7-5)
3. Leighton Allen/Fran Pini (OSU) def. Chris Edge/Stepan Holis (MTSU) 7-6 (8-6)
Doubles (1,2,3)

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