STARKVILLE, Miss.| Alabama State fell to seventh-seeded Mississippi State, 4-0 in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament, ending their season after capturing their third consecutive conference championship.

Alabama State (12-10) dropped the doubles point after the Mississippi State top team of Nuno Borges and Strahinja Rakic defeated Alexis Collard and Ion Efrim 6-4 to clinch the point. The Bulldogs also won at number two, 6-0, as the team of Niclas Braun and Giovannia Oradini defeated Chris Andre and Juan Rodriguez.

Meanwhile, in singles play, Mississippi State captured three of the matches including at number two where Oradini defeated Alabama State's Andre 6-1, 6-2; while at number four Braun defeated Tomas Fernandez 6-1, 6-2. The only other match to conclude was at number six where Alejo Calvis fell to Mississippi State's Gregor Ramskogler 6-1, 6-2

(7) Mississippi State 4, Alabama State 0
May 3, 2019 – NCAA First Round
Starkville, Miss.

Singles
1. Nuno Borges (MSU) vs. Ion Efrim (ALST) 6-2, 2-1 (unfinished)
2. Giovanni Oradini (MSU) def. Chris Andre (ALST) 6-1, 6-2
3. Strahinja Rakic (MSU) vs. Alexis Collard (ALST) 6-2, 5-1 (unfinished)
4. Niclas Braun (MSU) def. Tomas Fernandez (ALST) 6-1, 6-2
5. Florian Broska (MSU) vs. Juan Rodriguez (ALST) 6-4, 2-0 (unfinished)
6. Gregor Ramskogler (MSU) def. Alejo Calvis (ALST) 6-1, 6-2

Doubles
1. Borges / Rakic (MSU) def. Collard / Efrim (ALST), 6-4
2. Braun / Oradini (MSU) def. Andre / Rodriguez (ALST), 6-0
3. Foshey / Ramskogler (MSU) vs. Fernandez / Andrej Trajkovski (ALST), 5-4 (unfinished)

The loss ends the careers of Ion Efrim, Tomas Fernandez, Andrej Trajkovski and Carl-Louis Luckmann who helped Alabama State win three consecutive conference titles and advance to back-to-back NCAA tournaments.

Quotable
Alabama State Head Coach Anuk Christiansz
On today's match...
AC: "First of all I am very proud of my guys for making it into the tournament. I am just proud of the fact they came here and competed hard against a top team in the nation. They have nothing to be ashamed of. They fought hard. I am very, very proud of them. I am looking forward to seeing bigger things from them. No question I am extremely proud of them and the way they competed today. Good luck to Mississippi State, they are a very good team."

Mississippi State Head Coach Matt Roberts
On the match...
MR: "First of all, congrats to Alabama State on getting to this point and having a good year. [Head Coach] Anuk [Christiansz] does a good job with his team. I thought today was one of those matches where with a big crowd, and being the first round in the NCAA tournament you have to be sharp, you have to put on a good show, you have to have good energy and I think our guys did that today. I pushed them to do that today. They owned it, they came out with a sense of urgency. They did not take any points off, not relaxed, because that will go into tomorrow's match and then moving forward. They have to be sharp and stay focused every point. I thought they did a great job in that area."

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