The MSU men’s tennis team continued strong fall season play as it traveled to the Southern Intercollegiate Championship in Athens, Ga. this weekend.The Bulldog netters faced tough competition as they took on NCAA powerhouses such as South Florida, Tennessee, Virginia Tech, Louisville and Winthrop.
On Friday, during the first singles division, MSU senior Philippe Frayssinoux downed Diego Toledo of South Florida 6-3, 6-3.
Also in singles play, junior Ryan Farlow dropped a 6-2, 6-4 decision to Tennessee’s Chris Racz.
In the second singles division, sophomore Pjotrs Necajevs was defeated in a three-set match 4-6, 6-3, 7-6, by Louisville’s James McArthur. Also in singles, sophomore Christopher Doerr suffered a 6-4, 6-4 upset to Pedro Graber of Virginia Tech.
In the third singles division, freshman Maximilien Genuini defeated Pulido of Morehead State 6-1, 6-4.
During the first doubles division, the duo of Farlow and Frayssinoux lost 8-3 against Vinicius Bortolatto and Rodrigo Santos of Winthrop.
On Saturday in the first singles division, Frayssinoux won 6-3, 6-4, over Dylan Arnould of Duke. In addition to that victory, Frayssinoux took down Tennessee’s Davey Sandgren 6-1, 6-3.
“Philippe played well last weekend so I expected him to do just as well this weekend,” Hill said.
In the second singles division, Genuini defeated Serio Velez of East Tennessee State 6-4, 7-5.
During the consolation match, Farlow dropped a 6-3, 6-3 decision to Sebastian Serrano of East Tenn. State.
However, in the consolation match of the second singles division, Necajevs downed James Eason of Citadel in a three-set match. Also in the consolation match, Doerr defeated Winthrop’s Alejandro Portugal 6-3, 1-0.
During the doubles division, the duo of Necajevs and Doerr took down Virginia Tech’s doubles team of Eduardo Pinto and Ignaci Roca 9-7.
Frayssinoux then had one of his best showings of his career on Sunday, posting two more victories to advance to the singles final. Frayssinoux topped the nation’s No. 4 player, Georgia’s Travis Helgeson 6-3, 7-6 in the quarterfinals.
He then went on to best Wake Forest’s Corey Parr with scores of 7-5 and 6-2 in the semifinals, improving to 8-0 on the season.
Frayssinoux and fellow senior Martina Banikova of the women’s tennis team will travel to Tulsa, Okla. on Oct. 4 for the Intercollegiate Tennis Association’s All-American Championships.