Mississippi State
Tennessee
MSU Lady Netters Drop 6-1 Decision To No. 24 Tennessee
April 08, 2007 | Women's Tennis
Tennessee (11-8, 6-4 Southeastern Conference) took the early lead with a sweep of doubles competition. First off, State's tandem of Elna de Villiers and DeAndra Saddler fell in an 8-1 decision to UT's duo of Samantha Orlin and Blakeley Griffith on court #2. Clinching the point for UT, the Lady Vol duo of Caitlin Whoriskey and Zsofia Zubor defeated Martina Banikova and Valeriya Makarycheva 8-2 at the top position. In the final match, UT's Vicky Jones and Connor Vogel prevailed in an 8-6 tightly-contested match against Lady Bulldogs Renee Joseph and Daniela Juskova.
UT went on to claim the first three singles matches to give them the win. First off, on court #3, MSU's Juskova dropped identical 6-1 sets to Whoriskey. At No. 6, UT's Zubor took a 6-3, 6-0 match from State's Makarycheva to give Tennessee a 3-0 lead. Clinching the match on court #5, UT's Jones downed State's Saddler 6-0, 6-2.
Serving as State's lone point was de Villiers on court #2 where her Lady Vol opponent, Vogel, retired in the second set after taking the first in a tiebreaker.
UT grabbed wins in the final two matches of the day as well. MSU's Joseph dropped a 6-3, 6-0 match to Tennessee's Orlin on court #4. Last off, State's 71st-ranked Banikova lost in a 6-3, 7-5 match to UT's 35th-ranked Griffith to give UT its sixth and final point of the afternoon.
"We were just outplayed today and lost to a solid team,"said MSU Head Coach Tracy Lane. "All we can do now is take a day off and get ready for Ole Miss."
State concludes the 2007 regular season on Saturday, April 14, in Oxford, Miss., competing against in-state rival Mississippi at 1 p.m. CT.
#24 Tennessee 6, #75 Mississippi State 1
Starkville, Miss. ??“ 04-08-07
DOUBLES ??“ Caitlin Whoriskey/Zsofia Zubor (UT) def. Martina Banikova/Valeriya Makarycheva (MSU) 8-2; Samantha Orlin/Blakeley Griffith (UT) def. Elna de Villiers/DeAndra Saddler (MSU) 8-1; Vicky Jones/Connor Vogel (UT) def. Renee Joseph/Daniela Juskova (MSU) 8-6.
SINGLES ??“ #35 Griffith (UT) def. #71 Banikova (MSU) 6-3, 7-5; de Villiers (MSU) def. Vogel (UT) 6-7(3), 1-0, ret.; Whoriskey (UT) def. Juskova (MSU) 6-1, 6-1; Orlin (UT) def. Joseph (MSU) 6-3, 6-0; Jones (UT) def. Saddler (MSU) 6-0, 6-2; Zubor (UT) def. Makarycheva (MSU) 6-3, 6-0.
(numbers preceding names are current national rankings)
Players Mentioned
