Despite valiant performances, Mississippi State’s tennis teams failed to upset their Ole Miss rivals on Saturday, with the women dropping a 2-5 decision at home and the men falling 3-4 in Oxford.Women
Mississippi State’s lady netters ended their regular season on Saturday with a disappointing 2-5 home loss to 52nd-ranked Ole Miss.
Mississippi grabbed the first point after sweeping the doubles matches. Rebel pair Soledad Podlipnik and Preethi Subramanian earned an 8-5 victory over State’s Valeriya Makarycheva and DeAndra Saddler.
UM then clinched the first point with the 32nd-ranked pair of Nika Koukhartchouk and Karen Nijssen’s 8-6 win over State’s Martina Banikova and Elna de Villiers.
In the final doubles match, UM’s Mimi Renaudin and Laura van de Stroat defeated State’s Radka Ferancova and Renee Joseph 9-8(3).
The Rebels doubled their lead with Nika Koukhartchouk’s 6-2, 6-3 win over Banikova, before State cut the lead with Radka Ferancova’s 6-4, 6-3 victory over Laura van de Stroat.
UM’s 99th-ranked Nijssen made it 3-1 with a 6-3, 6-4 win over No. 112 Joseph, before State’s Makarycheva narrowed the score again with a 7-5, 6-4 win over UM’s Soledad Podlipnik. Renaudin would clinch the match for the Rebels with a 7-6(2), 7-5 win over State’s Tatiana Feit.
Subramanian then closed out the match with a 6-3, 6-4 defeat of State’s de Villiers.
With a squad depleted by injury, head coach Tracy Lane admitted frustration at the team’s difficult end to the season.
“It’s very disappointing,” Lane said. “It’s hard to win matches when you don’t have your full lineup.”
Men
Mississippi State’s upset bid came just short Saturday afternoon with a 3-4 loss at the hands of 7th-ranked Ole Miss.
The loss marked the fourth time in five games that the Bulldogs have lost by that score, although the Rebels had already clinched the match before State had earned its first point.
The Rebels took an early lead after sweeping the three doubles matches. State’s Chris Doerr and Tanner stump fell first to UM’s Jakob Klaeson and Tucker Vorster in an 8-2 decision, before the Rebel pair of Matthias Wellermann and Robbye Poole clinched the point with an 8-6 victory over MSU’s Ryan Farlow and Pjotrs Necajevs.
UM completed the doubles sweep as the 5th-ranked pair of Jonas Berg and Erling Tveit earned an 8-6 win over State’s Ivan Bjelica and Philippe Frayssinoux.
The Rebels added to their lead as singles began, with Berg defeating Farlow 6-4, 6-0, and Klaeson downing State’s Artem Kuznetsov 6-2, 6-4.
Mississippi would wrap up the win with Kalle Norberg’s 6-1, 7-6(5) defeat of Doerr. Still, the Bulldogs took some of the gloss off the Rebel’s victory, winning the last three matches in three sets to narrow the final scoreline.
Freshman Antonio Lastre earned State’s first point with a 6-1, 4-6, 6-2 victory over Vorster, before the 57th-ranked Frayssinoux upset UM’s 46th-ranked Poole 6-1, 3-6, 7-5.
On court No. 1, State’s 26th-ranked Bjelica overcame a first set deficit to defeat 30th-ranked Tveit 4-6, 7-5, 1-0(3). deficit to defeat 30th-ranked Tveit 4-6, 7-5, 1-0(3).