Mississippi State
Arkansas
Bulldogs Down Arkansas 6-1 For Third Straight Victory
March 30, 2007 | Men's Tennis
For the first time this season in conference play, the Bulldogs won all three doubles matches. First off the court was State's duo of Chris Doerr and Ryan Farlow, as they battled back from a 4-2 deficit to defeat Bradwin Williams and Gabriel Mattos of UA 8-4 on court #3. The Bulldogs clinched the opening point of the match when the MSU freshman tandem of Artem Kuznetsov and Pjotrs Necajevs topped Razorbacks Dmitry Vlaskin and Jorge Villanueva 8-6 on court #2. In the remaining match on court #1, MSU's Ivan Bjelica and Philippe Frayssinoux outlasted UA's Blake Strode and Colin Mascall in a tiebreaker 9-8(6).
The Bulldog netmen quickly took the momentum early in singles, winning the first set on five courts. Farlow gave MSU a 2-0 lead when he downed UA's Andrei Nicoara 6-2, 6-2 on court #4. Moments later, State took a 3-0 advantage when freshman Edouard Benchetrit defeated Arkansas's Villanueva 6-0, 6-1 on court #5. The clinching point and a 4-0 lead came when the Bulldog's Frayssinoux turned back Razorback Mascall 6-3, 6-2 on court #2. The Bulldogs expanded their lead to 5-0 when Kuznetsov topped UA's Lebedev 6-4, 6-0 on court #3. State took a 6-0 lead with a win on court #6, which saw MSU's Doerr down UA's Williams 6-4, 2-6, 1-0(2) in a third-set supertiebreaker. The lone point for Arkansas came on court #1, where the Razorback's 95th-ranked Strode downed MSU's 39th-ranked Bjelica 6-4, 7-5, ending his six-match winning streak.
With the win on Friday, State has now won three straight SEC matches for the first time since the 2005 MSU team started conference play 5-0. Both Doerr and Farlow won their third-straight singles matches while Freshman Kuznetsov notched his second straight victory. With their win, State also now leads Arkansas 19-6 in the overall series including an 8-2 mark in Fayetteville.
State will return to action on Sunday, as they host #13 LSU as part of Super Bulldog Weekend Festivities on campus. Match time is slated for 1 p.m. at the A.J. Pitts Tennis Centre.
#61 MISSISSIPPI STATE 6, ARKANSAS 1
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - 3/30/07
DOUBLES -Ivan Bjelica/Philippe Frayssinoux (MSU) def. #27 Blake Strode/Colin Mascall (UA) 9-8(6); Artem Kuznetsov/Pjotrs Necajevs (MSU) def. Dmitry Vlaskin/ Jorge Villanueva (UA) 8-6; Chris Doerr/Ryan Farlow (MSU) def. Bradwin Williams/Gabriel Mattos (UA) 8-4.
SINGLES - #95 Strode (UA) def. #39 Bjelica (MSU) 6-4, 7-5; Frayssinoux (MSU) def. Mascall (UA) 6-3, 6-2; Kuznetsov (MSU) def. Dmitry Lebeder (UA) 6-4, 6-0; Farlow (MSU) def. Andy Nicoara (UA) 6-2, 6-2; Edouard Benchetrit (MSU) def. Villanueva (UA) 6-0, 6-1; Doerr (MSU) def. Vlaskin (UA) 6-4, 2-6, 1-0(2).
(numbers preceding names are current national rankings)
