Mississippi State’s tennis squads saw action over the weekend, with the Lady Bulldogs losing their matches against Southern Alabama and Southeastern Louisiana.Mississippi State’s lady netters dropped a 5-2 decision Thursday on the road to No. 73 Southern Alabama before returning home Saturday to lose 4-3 to Southeastern Louisiana.
In the opening doubles matches, Elna de Villiers and DeAndra Saddler fell 8-6, followed by Tatiana Feit and Valeriya Makarycheva’s 8-5 loss to hand USA the first point.
State duo Renee Joseph and Daniela Juskova managed an 8-7(3) consolation victory.
USA went up 3-0 after claiming the first two singles victories in straight sets. Juskova dropped her match 6-2, 6-0, followed by Saddler’s 6-1, 6-1 loss.
The Jaguars clinched the match after de Villiers’ 7-6(7), 6-0 loss and ran up a 5-0 lead with Joseph’s 6-3, 7-6(5) defeat.
The Bulldogs earned their first point through Makarycheva’s 7-5, 6-3 victory, and Feit’s 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 win took the final score to 5-2.
The lady netters return to the A.J. Pitts Center on Saturday came with a 4-3 loss to Southeastern Louisiana.
MSU began well, picking up the doubles point after Joseph and Juskova won 8-6 following Banikova and Makarycheva’s 8-5 victory.
Saddler and de Villiers lost their match in a 9-8(2) tiebreaker.
Not faring so well in the singles, the Bulldogs dropped the first four matches to hand SLU the victory.
After Banikova was first off the court after being forced to retire her match in the first set, Juskova soon followed after dropping a pair of 6-1 sets.
MSU went two behind following Joseph’s 6-2, 6-1 defeat, and Makarycheva’s 6-4, 6-4 loss ensured victory for SLU.
With victory out of reach, the last two Bulldogs on the court managed to add respectability to the score line.
Feit came through a tiebreaker to win 6-2, 7-5, then de Villiers made it 4-3 after negotiating a third-set super tiebreaker to win 7-5, 4-6, 1-0.
Head coach Tracy Lane, despite disappointment over both losses, took heart from the displays of Feit and de Villiers.
“Without a doubt, those two are taking care of business,” Lane said. “With every match, they are fighting. Those two had a good game today.