Mixed results were the story of the weekend for the Bulldog netters as the women’s team grabbed a dominating victory, while the men’s team had a hard-fought loss.Women
The MSU lady netters continued their perfect start to the season with a 7-0 victory over Louisiana-Monroe on Saturday, after coming on the back of wins over Louisiana-Lafayette and Rice.
State jumped out to an early lead after sweeping the doubles. MSU pair Daniela Juskova and Valeriya Makarycheva first disposed of Marion Lehmann and Lena Satge 8-4. Martina Banikova and Elna de Villiers finished off Noelia Leon and Sharon Makhanya 8-5 to complete the doubles sweep.
The success followed the Bulldogs into the singles matches, as State won all six matches in two sets. Juskova doubled the lead, defeating Makhanya with a pair of 6-1 sets, and Radka Ferancova made it 3-0 soon after with a 6-0, 6-2 win over Burjaili. Banikova clinched the match for State from the No. 1 position, beating Leon 6-3, 6-1. Elna de Villiers followed suit with a 6-0, 6-2 victory over Lehmann. State’s 67th-ranked Renee Joseph defeated Satge 6-4, 6-2 to earn her fourth straight singles win and complete the shutout for the Bulldogs.
Head coach Tracy Lane was pleased with the performance, especially coming just a day after their 4-3 win over Rice.
“We had such a huge match yesterday that we were worried about being a little sore,” Lane said. “We took some time to get going during the doubles but then really came out and did the business in the singles matches.”
Men
On the road in Athens, Ga., the 56th-ranked Mississippi State men’s tennis team took on its second ranked opponent in four days with a 4-3 loss to 41st-ranked Georgia Tech.
The teams’ close rankings were very apparent during the tightly contested doubles matches, two of which needed extra points to decide.
The theme continued into the singles, with four matches lasting three sets. MSU’s Arten Kuznetsov fell 6-2, 6-0 to Ryan Smith, before State’s Antonio Lastre defeated Eliot Potvin 6-4, 7-5 to narrow Georgia Tech’s lead.
State freshman Maximilien Genuini then lost 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 to Miguel Muguruza, but Ryan Farlow’s 4-6, 6-1, 6-4 comeback over Scott Blackmon brought the overall score to 3-2.
Ivan Bjelica’s defeat of Guillermo Gomez brought the scores level before David North clinched the match for Georgia Tech with a win over Frayssinoux.