Mississippi State
Tennessee
State Falls In Close 5-2 Decision To #22 Tennessee
April 08, 2007 | Men's Tennis
MSU (6-12, 3-7) took the opening point, winning two of the three doubles matches. The first match complete on court #3 saw UT's Bo Hardegree and Davey Sandgren down State's Chris Doerr and Ryan Farlow 8-5. The Bulldog junior pair of Ivan Bjelica and Philippe Frayssinoux evened things up as they topped Tennessee's 23rd-ranked team of Bobby Cameron and Kaden Hensel 9-7 on court #1. The decision came down to court #2 where State's duo of Artem Kuznetsov and Pjotrs Necajevs battled UT's 46th-ranked pair of Adam Hubble and Ben Rogers to a tiebreaker. Kuznetsov and Necajevs dominated the tiebreaker, winning the first seven points to clinch the point for MSU.
Tennessee (15-5, 7-3) and State would then battle in some close singles matches to decide the outcome. While State and UT split first sets on the six singles courts, Tennessee quickly began to take advantage as play progressed. UT's Chris Racz evened the team score at 1-1 when he defeated MSU's Edouard Benchetrit 6-3, 6-1 on court #5. The Vols took a 2-1 lead when #117 Sandgren downed MSU freshman Kuznetsov 6-3, 6-3 on court #3. UT's lead went to 3-1 when Tennessee's Rogers rallied to defeat State's Farlow 1-6, 6-1, 6-2 on court #4. The gap was closed to 3-2 when MSU's #75 Frayssinoux outlasted UT's 36th-ranked Cameron 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 on court #2. Bjelica's attempt to even the match on court #1 came up just short as he fell 6-3, 7-6 to 33rd-ranked Kaden Hensel on court #1, which gave the Volunteers the win. In the last remaining match on court #6, UT's Hubble rallied to defeat MSU's Doerr 6-7, 6-2, 6-4 to give Tennessee their fifth and final point.
With the loss, the Bulldogs dropped to 2-8 this season on the road. With the win on court #2, Frayssinoux moved to 22-12 overall this season. State won the doubles point in conference play for the third time this season.
State will conclude its regular season next Saturday, as they host seventh-ranked arch rival Mississippi. Match time is set for 1 p.m. at the A.J. Pitts Tennis Centre.
#22 TENNESSEE 5, #64 MISSISSIPPI STATE 2
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - 4/8/07
DOUBLES - Ivan Bjelica/Philippe Frayssinoux (MSU) def. #23 Bobby Cameron/Kaden Hensel (UT) 9-7; Artem Kuznetsov/Pjotrs Necajevs (MSU) def. #46 Adam Hubble/Ben Rogers (UT) 9-8(0); Bo Hardegree/Davey Sandgren (UT) def. Chris Doerr/Ryan Farlow (MSU) 8-5.
SINGLES - #33 Hensel (UT) def. #37 Bjelica (MSU) 6-3, 7-6; #75 Frayssinoux (MSU) def. #36 Cameron (UT) 6-3, 3-6, 6-1; #117 Sandgren (UT) def. Kuznetsov (MSU) 6-3, 6-3; Rogers (UT) def. Farlow (MSU) 1-6, 6-1, 6-2; Chris Racz (UT) def. Edouard Benchetrit (MSU) 6-3, 6-1; Hubble (UT) def. Doerr (MSU) 6-7, 6-2, 6-4.
(numbers preceding names are current national rankings)
