The Mississippi State women’s tennis squad dropped two Southeastern Conference matches over the weekend, losing 4-3 to Arkansas and 7-0 to LSU. The lady netters just failed to overcome 55th-ranked Arkansas on Friday, dropping a tough 4-3 decision at the A.J. Pitts Centre.
Daniela Juskova and Renee Joseph gave State an early advantage by winning their doubles match 8-4, extending the pair’s record to 8-1 overall.
The Bulldogs secured the doubles point after Martina Banikova and Valeriya Makarycheva’s 8-4 victory, while Elna de Villiers and DeAndra Saddler failed to make it a clean sweep after an 8-4 loss.
Saddler earned State another point after taking a pair of 6-2 sets in the singles.
The lead was extended to 3-0 with Makarycheva’s victory, shutting out her opponent in the first set before taking the match 6-0, 6-3.
First to fall was Banikova, losing 6-3, 6-1 against Arkansas’ 25th-ranked Ela Kaluder.
Juskova fought hard after dropping her first set, but could not hand State the decisive point after her 6-3, 7-5 loss.
Arkansas brought the scores level at 3-3 with de Villiers 6-4, 6-3 loss, leaving all eyes on the final and decisive match between State’s Joseph and Arkansas’ Audrey Bordeleau.
The first set belonged to Joseph after a 7-6 (5) tiebreaker, and she almost clinched the match after coming back from 5-0 down in the second set to force another tiebreaker, only to lose 7-6 (5).
Joseph could not maintain the pressure in the third set, falling 6-1 to Bordeleau and leaving Arkansas celebrating a 4-3 victory.
“We played really good tennis, and I’m really proud of the girls,” head coach Tracy Lane said. “We left it all out on the court and just came up short today.”
Away to 40th-ranked LSU on Sunday, the Bulldogs were shut out 7-0.
LSU took an early advantage after sweeping the three doubles matches. State’s Joseph and Juskova were first off the court after losing 8-3, followed by Banikova and Makarycheva’s 8-5 loss.
Saddler and de Villiers could offer no consolation in an 8-6 defeat.
State faired no better in the singles, losing them all in straight sets.
The Bulldogs first saw Banikova succumb 6-1, 6-1 to LSU’s second-ranked Megan Falcon, then Juskova dropped a pair of 6-2 sets to leave the score at 3-0.
LSU clinched the win with Saddler’s 6-2, 6-4 loss, followed by de Villiers’ 6-1, 6-2 loss to make it 5-0.
A 6-2, 6-3 loss from Makarycheva and Joseph’s 7-6, 6-1 defeat brought the score to 7-0, leaving the Bulldogs with just one SEC win on the year.