"I am very excited how we played," Head Coach Anuk Christiansz said. "We came in and played the 14^th-ranked team in the nation and really made them work for every point."

The Bulldogs took all three doubles matches, but not without a fight from the Hornets. Jordan Angus and Florian Lakat entered the season as the 52nd ranked doubles team in the country and defeated Ronald Mataba and Adam Coyne 6-1 at one doubles.

Takura Mlambo and Digvijay Narvka played at two doubles and after a back and forth set, the MSU team of Tassilo Schmidt and Zack White was able to pull out a 5-2 win and in essence gave the doubles point to Mississippi State and to give them a 1-0 lead heading into singles action.

There was still one more doubles set to be played at number three and ASU's Cleary and Thompson took Agarwal and Haden from MSU into a tie break before falling 6-5 (2).

MSU (2-0) was able to win all six singles matches in straight sets. Lakat, the 63^rd-ranked player in the nation defeated Mataba 6-1, 6-1 at one singles. Angus for MSU defeated Coyne at two singles 6-4, 6-2 in a match that was closer than the final score indicated.

At three singles, the Bulldogs' White was able to defeat Narvka 6-0, 6-0 and at four singles Agarwal defeated Mlambo 6-2, 6-1. The final two singles matches saw MSU's Schmid defeat Stefan Vojnic 6-0, 6-2 and at six singles Robin Haden defeated Cleary in a tight 6-3, 6-2 match.

"The guys were not hanging their heads after the match," Christiansz said. "They know what kind of progress they are making and we have so much to build on when we get back to practice. You can tell the difference over the past two years and I think we are beginning to make some progress. Again, I am pleased with the way they competed and am very excited to see how much we can grow."

The Hornets (0-1) will jump back into action Sunday, Jan. 26 when they travel to Mobile to face South Alabama at 1 p.m. The Lady Hornets will face the Lady Bulldogs of Mississippi State tomorrow, Sunday, Jan. 19 at 10 a.m.

-Hornets-