The Mississippi State men’s and women’s tennis teams were in action last weekend, with one men’s player and one women’s player making it to at least the quarterfinals of their respective tournaments.
On the men’s side, Ivan Bjelica, the 42nd-ranked singles player in the country and the No. 9 seed in the ITA Southeast Regional Championships in Lexington, Ky.
He opened the tournament with impressive wins in the first two rounds, winning 6-4, 6-2 over James Moye of Vanderbilt and 6-3, 6-1 over Memphis’ Benedikt Fischer.
In the round of 16, he defeated Kevin Dessauer of SEC foe LSU 6-4, 6-3, and in the quarterfinals he defeated Ryan Preston of Vanderbilt 6-2, 6-1 in a bit of an upset to make it to the semifinals.
Now he stands one win away from qualifying for the ITA National Indoor Championships and two wins away from his third career major at MSU.
In doubles action, Bjelica and Philippe Frayssinoux fought their way to the quarterfinals before being defeated by Ricardo Gonzalez and Jamie Hunt of Georgia 8-1.
Artem Kuznetsov and Pjotrs Nacajevs went down in the round of 16, also by a score of 8-1 to Dan Buikema and Matt Thibaudeau of Alabama.
The Bulldogs will be in Tuscaloosa, Ala., for the Crimson Tide Invitational Oct. 26-29.
On the women’s side, Elna de Villiers’ bid for a singles title fell short last weekend.
Her four-match winning streak was broken at the ITA South Regional Championships in Tuscaloosa, Ala.
She lost to Troy’s Annabelle Bares 6-2, 6-4. Also in the B Draw, Tatiana Feit lost in the semifinals of the consolation draw by a score of 6-2, 4-6, 2-6 to Central Florida’s Zoe Kent.
In doubles play, Renee Joseph and Valeriya Makarycheva also made a run to the semifinals, before going down to Miranda Foley and Carolin Walter 8-5.
The Lady Bulldogs’ next action will be Nov. 3-6 for the SEC fall classic in Athens, Ga.