No. 14 Cyclones Roll Past Mississippi State, 7-0

STARKVILLE, Miss. – The No. 14 Iowa State (5-1) tennis team handed Mississippi State (6-1) their first loss of the season on their home court, snapping the Bulldogs' streak of 59-straight home victories against non-conference opponents.

It also marks the first time in 27 years that Iowa State has swept a Power-5 opponent, 7-0, the last being on April 5^th, 1996 against Missouri.

Boomer Saia earned his 50^th career win as a head coach this afternoon, becoming the fastest coach in program history to reach the mark. After today's win, Saia owns a record of 50-33, reaching 50 wins in 83 total matches. The previous record holder was Jim Doerr (1984-86) who reached 50 wins in 92 matches.

"Our team did a great job preparing themselves and getting ready for this match," Saia said. "This is not an easy place to play so I was very proud of the professional approach we had to each match today."

HOW IT HAPPENED
The Cyclones began the day by quickly clinching the doubles point. At the No. 3 spot, Miska Kadleckova and Sofia Cabezas took care of the Bulldogs' Chloe Cirotte and Dharani Niroshan, 6-3. Ange Oby Kajuru and Xinyi Nong were the next Iowa State duo to finish at the No. 2 spot, putting Iowa State up, 1-0, in the team score by defeating Alexandra Mikhailuk and Maria Rizzolo, 6-2. Thasaporn Naklo and Anna Supapitch Kuearum were winning, 5-4, at the time the Cyclones earned the doubles point.

In singles, Kajuru was the first match to finish, running her singles winning streak to eight in a row by taking care of business against Gia Cohen, 6-0, 6-1.

With Iowa State up, 2-0, in the team score, No. 57 Naklo earned another point for her team, taking down three-time NCAA singles qualifier Emmanouela Antonaki, 6-2, 6-3.

No. 114 Cabezas earned her second career ranked singles win at the No. 5 spot and clinched the match for her team, beating No. 61 Rizzolo, 6-2, 6-2.

Both teams would play out the singles matches after the Cyclones earned the team victory, and Kadleckova would be the next to finish, taking down Chloe Cirotte at the No. 4 singles spot, 7-5, 6-1. With that win, Kadleckova extended her singles winning streak to eight straight wins.

Supapitch Kuearum started her singles match off slow at the No. 3 spot. However, the junior from Bangkok, Thailand, would eventually earn her 13^th singles victory on the year, defeating Alexandra Mikhailuk, 7-6, 6-3.

Completing the sweep for Saia and his team was Chie Kezuka. Despite dropping her first set, she would come back to defeat Emily Surcey, 6-7, 6-4, 1-0 (5).

UP NEXT
No. 14 Iowa State will face off against Memphis tomorrow at 10 a.m.

SINGLES RESULTS
Order of Finish: 2, 1, 5, 4, 3, 6
#1 - No. 57 Thasaporn Naklo (ISU) def. Emmanouela Antonaki (MSU) 6-2, 6-3
#2 - Ange Oby Kajuru (ISU) def. Gia Cohen (MSU) 6-0, 6-1
#3 - No. 80 Anna Supapitch Kuearum (ISU) def. Alexandra Mikhailuk (MSU) 7-6 (7), 6-2
#4 - Miska Kadleckova (ISU) def. Chloe Cirotte (MSU) 7-5, 6-1
#5 - No. 114 Sofia Cabezas (ISU) def. No. 61 Maria Rizzolo (MSU) 6-2, 6-2
#6 - Chie Kezuka (ISU) def. Emily Surcey (MUS) 6-7 (4), 6-4, 1-0 (5)

DOUBLES RESULTS
Order of Finish: 3, 2
#1 - Naklo/Supapitch Kuearum (ISU) vs. Antonaki/Cohen (MSU) 5-4 UF
#2 - Kajuru/Nong (ISU) def. Mikhailuk/Rizzolo (MSU) 6-2
#3 - Kadleckova/Cabezas (ISU) def. Cirotte/Niroshan (MSU) 6-3

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Team Stats

Players Mentioned

Sofia Cabezas

Miska Kadleckova

Ange Oby Kajuru

Chie Kezuka

Anna Supapitch Kuearum

Thasaporn Naklo

Xinyi Nong