The Mississippi State men’s tennis team recorded a 5-2 victory over the 60th-ranked Louisiana Lafayette Ragin’ Cajuns Wednesday at the A.J. Pitts Centre.Despite State duo Ivan Bjelica and Philippe Frayssinoux’s 8-2 opening win, the Bulldogs conceded the doubles point after two straight losses.
Chris Doerr and Ryan Farlow dropped the next match 8-4, allowing Layfayette to clinch the doubles point after the Bulldogs’ 28th-ranked tandem of Artem Kuznetov and Pjotrs Necajevs lost 9-7.
The Bulldogs fared much better in the singles matches, securing straight-set victories in all but one match.
On court two, Frayssinoux overcame his opponent 6-2, 6-3, before Doerr won his match 7-5, 6-4 on court six to secure State’s winning point.
Bjelica made it 5-1 with a pair of 6-3 sets on court one, and Necajevs lost a tough 2-6, 6-3, 10-6 match to close out the game.
“Lafayette was a much better team than what we were expecting, I think,” Guichard said. “Regardless of the score, we could easily have lost.”
The Bulldogs’ next match is at South Alabama on Sunday.