With impressive displays at the Southeastern Conference Indoor Championships in New Orleans, and the Georgia Invitational in Athens, Ga., Mississippi State’s tennis teams proved they know how to open a season in style.
Men
State’s Ivan Bjelica had a superb tournament for the Bulldogs, losing in the final of the SEC Indoor Championships after besting three nationally ranked players, including a career best victory over the nation’s No. 4 player. The senior from Serbia was returning to the team after spending the fall season in Europe, which head coach Per Nilsson attributes Bjelica’s strong start to this year.
“I’ve never seen him play before this tournament, since he took off the fall, but it seems like the time off has helped him,” Nilsson said. “He played well and had a huge win, and I think he will only get better this season, along with the rest of the team.”
Bjelica began the championships, along with junior Ryan Farlow, with a win over ranked opposition. Farlow defeated 62nd-ranked Nestor Briceno 7-5, 6-2, for the highest ranked victory of his career, while Bjelica knocked off 98th-ranked Colt Gatson of LSU 7-6(3), 6-1.
Sophomore Chris Doerr also picked up a singles win for the Bulldogs, defeating Georgia’s Josh Varela 4-6, 6-2, 6-3. Bulldog tandem of Farlow and Pjotrs Necajevs earned MSU its sole doubles win of the day with an 8-2 win over Florida’s Nester Briceno and Alex Lacroix.
Saturday saw round two of the tournament, where Bjelica earned two wins, including a 6-3, 7-6(1) victory over Georgia’s 4th-ranked Travis Helguson to advance to the semifinals.
Freshman Tanner Stump and Necajevs both earned supertiebreaker wins in consolation play, while Farlow ended his tournament run against 17th-ranked Nate Schnugg of Georgia.
Bjelica defeated his third ranked opponent in three days in Sunday’s semifinal, topping the 98th-ranked John Patrick Smith from Tennessee 7-6(8), 6-4 to earn a spot in the Monday’s final.
The final, grueling three set match against Luis Flores of Georgia ended in a 4-6, 7-6(2), 4-6 defeat for Bjelica, but he became the first MSU player to play in the finals since 1998.
With the success of this tournament, Nilsson only sees the team getting better as they start dual match play against UAB and Mississippi next week.
“The best thing about this tournament was that we played well, but still found some things we can improve on,” Nilsson said. “We have everyone healthy and ready to go, we’ve been practicing since August, and we’re looking in really good shape for our matches next week.”
Women
Mississippi State’s lady netters began their spring season in nearly perfect fashion on Friday, sweeping the doubles matches and claiming victory in six singles matches in the opening round of the Georgia Invitational.
The first day saw the Lady Bulldogs claim three doubles wins against Kansas State opponents. The tandem of Martina Banikova and Elna de Villiers won their Flight A match 8-1, while Radka Ferancova and Renée Joseph claimeder, won their match 8-6.
In Flight A singles action, Banikova upset the 65th-ranked Annabelle Bares of Troy in straight sets, 6-2, 7-5.
State’s 67th-ranked Joseph was up 5-2 in the first set before her Troy opponent dropped out due to injury.
MSU also picked up singles wins in Flight B, with Ferancova defeating Troy’s Leonie Guijt 6-2, 6-2 and Daniela Juskova battling back from a set behind to fend off Stephanie Vieria of Troy 6-7, 6-3, 6-1.
On the second day of action, the Lady Bulldogs continued to dominate the doubles competition, with the unchanged lineup winning three out of three against Troy opposition.
That success did not carry over to the singles competition, however, as MSU was swept by hosts Georgia. Banikova took No. 45 Kelley Hyndman to three sets in Flight A before losing 6-2, 4-6, 4-6, while Hall came close to her first win after a three set duel ended 6-2, 4-6, 1-0(3).
Sunday brought a reverse of fortunes in the doubles competition, as the Bulldogs lost three in a row to Georgia pairs. Banikova and de Villiers lost 5-8 to the 36th-ranked tandem of Monika Dancevic and Kelly Hyndman, while Ferancova and Joseph were dispatched 3-8 by the 30th-ranked pair of Yvette Hyndman and Naoko Ueshima.
MSU rebounded by winning three of its last four singles match-ups, with Joseph, de Villiers and Makarycheva winning in straight sets against KSU opponents.
With a solid tournament display already under their belt, head coach Tracy Lane said the team can head into the rest of the season in confident mood.
“I am very happy with the way our team is playing right now,” Lane said. “We won the matches we were supposed to this weekend and we played very tough in all of our matches. I look forward to our team playing at this high of a level for the rest of the season.