Both Mississippi State tennis teams saw action over the weekend, with the Lady Bulldogs claiming home victories over Southern and Troy and the men dropping a match to Mississippi in the River Hills Cup.Women
After opening their season with a loss, Mississippi State’s lady netters rebounded brightly to claim a 6-0 win over Southern University on Thursday at the McCarthy Gymnasium.
“It was a good match for us,” head coach Tracy Lane said. “We’ve had good practices all week, and this game allowed us to apply some of what we’ve been working on.”
To save time on McCarthy’s two courts, the singles matches started first, with MSU’s Martina Banikova and Daniela Juskova both earning 6-0, 6-0 victories to set the pace for the Bulldogs.
State’s Renee Joseph bested her opponent 6-1, 6-2, followed by Elna de Villiers 6-1, 6-3 victory to assure State its first win of the year.
Freshman Valeriya Makarycheva kept the pace with a 6-1, 6-2 win, allowing Tatiana Feit to clinch the shutout for State with an 8-0 victory.
The Bulldogs carried their momentum into Saturday, claiming a tightly contested 4-2 win over 68th-ranked Troy at the A.J. Pitts Tennis Centre.
With the two teams deadlocked at 2-2, Joseph and de Villiers gave State the win after both came from a set behind to win their singles matches.
Joseph dominated her last two sets to win 6-7(9), 6-0, 6-0, leaving de Villiers to wrap up the game. As the only Bulldog left on the court, de Villiers had the crowd and the rest of the team to cheer her on to a 2-6, 6-4, 7-5 victory, preventing the game from being decided by doubles matches.
“That was a really big match,” Lane said of de Villiers’ victory. “They’re a really good doubles team, so we were happy to be able to win it in singles.”
State freshman DeAndra Saddler put the Bulldogs ahead with a 6-3, 6-0 victory before Juskova’s 1-6, 2-6 loss brought the teams level.
Troy grabbed the lead as Makarycheva dropped her match 6-1, 2-6, 3-6. Banikova’s 6-3, 6-3 win brought things level again before Joseph and de Villiers clinched the win for MSU.
“It was a much-needed win,” Lane said. “We knew they could win, but they had to believe it and believe in themselves, and I’m extremely proud.”
Men
Competing in Jackson Thursday for the River Hills Cup, the Mississippi State men’s tennis squad fell 4-0 to fifth-ranked rival Mississippi.
State, ranked 52nd, fell behind after Edouard Benchetrit and Chris Doerr dropped their doubles match 6-8, following Ivan Bjelica and Philippe Frayssinoux’s opening 3-8 defeat.
State’s 28th-ranked pairing of Artem Kuznetsov and Pjotrs Necajevs was leading 6-4 over UM’s 10th-ranked Chris Rae and Jakob Klaeson when the match was suspended.
The Rebels soon doubled their advantage with 40th-ranked Erling Tveit’s 6-3, 6-2 victory over State’s 31st-ranked Frayssinoux in the first singles match.
Another singles win took UM’s advantage to three, when the Rebel’s 79th-ranked Robbye Pool defeated State freshman Kuznetsov 7-6(1), 6-3.
State’s 32nd-ranked Bjelica dropped a 6-3, 3-6, 2-6 upset decision to give UM the victory and their eighth straight River Hills Cup.