This weekend saw Bulldog netters open up the spring season with impressive starts in doubles play as their spring season officially opened at home.Women
Saturday afternoon saw the Mississippi State lady netters’ first dual-match action of the season, as they defeated Louisiana-Lafayette 6-1 at the A.J. Pitts Tennis Centre.
State came out of the blocks strongly, earning the doubles title after picking up all three wins.
In the No. 1 position, Martina Banikova and Elna de Villiers defeated ULL’s Julie Mazinova and Myrthe Molenveld 8-7(3).
State also picked up wins in the No. 2 and 3 positions, with Radka Ferancova and Renee Joseph winning 8-3 against Louisiana-Lafayette’s Angela Dangond and Kim Van der Horst, and Daniela Juskova and Valeriya Makarycheva defeating ULL’s Mia Gordon and Marina Ruiz De Gauna 8-2.
Makarycheva picked up State’s first singles point after a quick 6-2, 6-1 victory over Ruiz De Gauna. State was soon 3-0 up after Ferancova earned a 6-4, 6-3 win over Dangond.
The 67th-ranked Joseph clinched the win for the Lady Bulldogs from the No. 2 spot, downing ULL’s Molenveld 6-4, 6-3.
In the remaining matches, all of them reaching three sets, Elna de Villiers won out over Van der Horst 4-6, 6-4 on court four.
On court five, Juskova also found a three-set, 5-7, 6-4, 7-5 victory over Bridget Markovich.
State’s clean sheet was only foiled by Louisiana-Lafayette’s Julie Mazinova, whose 7-5, 3-6, 1-0 win over Banikova on court one gave ULL its sole point of the match.
The Lady Bulldogs continue their home stand on Friday at 2 p.m. against Rice University and then again on Saturday at 1 p.m. against Louisiana Monroe.
Men
On Sunday, State’s netmen got off to a winning start with a 4-1 home win over University of Alabama-Birmingham.
Freshman Maximillian Genuini clinched the win for the Bulldogs in the No. 6 position with a 6-1, 6-4 win.
Head coach Per Nilsson was pleased with the result and said the competitive experience earned by some of his new recruits should prove beneficial.
“It was great to have the new guys play,” Nilsson said. “That was Max’s first game ever, and he got to clinch the match for us.”
Artem Kuznetsov, who missed the fall season because of injury, made his competitive return, losing in a tight 6-7 (4), 6-3, 6-4 match.
Nilsson commended his effort and said the loss will only make him come back stronger.
“Artem hasn’t played a game since last April because of his wrist, and he lost a really close one today that tightened things up for us,” Nilsson said. “But that is what he needs to get him motivated to play again.”
In the other matches, three other Bulldogs found singles victories in straight sets.
Ivan Bjelica won his match 6-1, 6-3 from the No. 1 spot, while Philippe Frayssinoux defeated his opponent 6-1, 6-2 from the No. 2 spot.
State junior Ryan Farlow made it 3-0 for the Bulldogs, winning 6-1, 6-2 to set up Genuini’s match clincher.
Coach Nilsson stressed the importance of getting a good start to the season, but said the team must look forward to the next match.
“I’m glad we’re 1-0,” Nilsson said. “We’ve just got to build from here.”
The Bulldogs’ next match will be Thursday against in-state rivals and 5th-ranked Mississippi.