No. 30 Georgia Conquers No. 16 Mississippi State

Saturday, March 15

Athens, Ga.

1:00 p.m.

University of Georgia

Mississippi State

Freshman Gabriele Vulpitta during a singles match against Tennessee on Monday, Feb. 24, 2025 at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex.

March 15, 2025 | Men's Tennis

ATHENS, Ga. – The University of Georgia men's tennis team defeated No. 16 Mississippi State, 4-3, on Saturday afternoon in the Dan Magill Tennis Complex. Georgia improves to 10-6 (4-2) on the season while Mississippi State slips to 14-4 (4-3).

*PDF of Full Results Available Here

FAST FACTS:

Mississippi State took the doubles point off wins on courts two and three.
Sophomore Niels Ratiu earned his eighth win of the spring and was first off the courts to level the score at 1-1.
Senior Ryan Colby, after taking his first set, battled back from a 2-4 deficit in the second to earn the second overall win for the Bulldogs on court two. The win marks his seventh ranked win of the year.
Senior Thomas Paulsell bounced back from a second set loss to take the third set and give Georgia its third overall match point.
Freshman Gabriele Vulpitta earned his third-straight match-clinching win for the Bulldogs which handed Georgia its second top-20 win of the spring.
Georgia improves to 64-15 all-time against Mississippi State.

RESULTS:
Singles

No. 72 Benito Sanchez Martinez def. No. 32 Miguel Perez Peña, 5-7, 4-6
No. 27 Ryan Colby def. No. 88 Peter Jovanovic, 6-2, 6-4
No. 26 Thomas Paulsell def. No. 125 Niccolo Baroni, 6-3, 2-6, 6-2
No. 92 Mario Martinez Serrano def. Oscar Pinto Sansano, 6(1)-7, 3-6
Niels Ratiu def. Roberto Ferrer Guimaraes, 6-3, 6-3
Gabriele Vulpitta def. Bryan Hernandez Cortes, 7(10)-6(8), 4-6, 6-3

Order of Finish (5,2,4,3,1,6*)

Doubles

No. 23 Blaydes/Ratiu vs. No. 4 Jovanovic/Sanchez Martinez, 5-6, unfinished
Paulsell/Pinto Sansano vs. No. 29 Martinez Serrano/Baroni, 6(6)-7
Perez Peña/Vulpitta def. Novansky/Milanovic, 6-1

Order of Finish (3, 2*)

KEY QUOTE:
Georgia Head Coach Jamie Hunt
On Vulpitta's match-clinching win…
"I'm so proud of him. I mean, it has not been an easy transition for him. I mean, you come from a place a long, long way away. You start indoor hard court fast, he grew up playing on clay. You know, it's just not an easy transition for him, and he's had a lot of bumps in the road so far, but he's continued to be coachable and listen and learn and grow and now I think you're finally seeing the Gabry [Vulpitta] that, you know, that we knew we were going to get with him. I mean, he's playing confidently, he's trusting his forehand and it was just really great to see him battle through in that third set after losing a tough second because I think, mentally, you know, that was a really tough position to be in. You're two games away from closing the match out, and all the people come down and to lose that and have that disappointment kind of set in was, you know, it's tough to overcome, but it's about mental toughness and he did a great job on the third set. I couldn't be more proud of him."

Senior Thomas Paulsell
On his performance…
"Overall, I played very solid. In the second set, I had a slight dip. I kind of mentally jerked out for a little bit, but good by my coaches, I got back on track and got back to focusing on the task."

Sophomore Niels Ratiu
On the team's win…
"I think it's just the fruit of all the work we all put in these last two weeks. You know, it hasn't been tough every time, but we didn't back out and we went to work. I'm happy, but I'm not surprised."

UP NEXT: Georgia will travel to Norman, Okla. to take on the Sooners this Friday, March 21. Doubles are set to commence at 7:00 p.m., ET.

Keep up with all the latest news and information on the Bulldogs by following UGA men's tennis on social media on X and Instagram @UGATennis, on Facebook @UGAMensTennis and on the web at GeorgiaDogs.com.