Mississippi State
Georgia Tech
Bulldogs Drop 4-3 Heartbreaker To Georgia Tech
February 10, 2008 | Men's Tennis
ATLANTA, Ga. - The Mississippi State men's tennis team dropped a tight 4-3 decision to Georgia Tech Sunday afternoon at the Bill Moore Tennis Center on the Georgia Tech campus. The match featured two doubles contests that were decided in tiebreakers and four singles matches that were decided in three sets. State fell to 1-2 this season with the loss while Georgia Tech improved to 5-0.
The doubles point was very closely contested to open the match. The first match completed was on court #3 where Georgia Tech's George Gvelesiani and David North topped State's Ryan Farlow and Artem Kuznetsov 8-2. The Bulldogs evened it up when Bulldogs Ivan Bjelica and Philippe Frayssinoux moved past Scott Blackmon and Ryan Smith 9-8 in a tiebreaker on court #1. In the decisive match on court #2, Georgia Tech's pair of Guillermo Gomez and Eliot Potvin edged out MSU's duo of Pjotrs Necajevs and Tanner Stump 9-8 in a tiebreaker to claim the opening point.
The Jackets took a 2-0 lead when Smith eased past Bulldog Kuznetsov 6-2, 6-0 on court #4. The gap was narrowed to 2-1 when State freshman Antonio Lastre claimed his first career dual-match win with a 6-4, 7-5 victory over Georgia Tech's Potvin on court #5.
Georgia Tech took a 3-1 lead as Miguel Muguruza edged out MSU freshman Maximilien Genuini 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 on court #6. However, the Bulldogs would quickly even the match at 3-3 when Farlow rallied to down Georgia Tech's Blackmon 4-6, 6-1, 6-4 on court #3 followed by an MSU win on court #1 where State's Bjelica outlasted 82nd-ranked Gomez 6-3, 3-6, 6-3.
With the score tied, the decision would come down to court #2 where 14th-ranked Bulldog Frayssinoux was in a battle with Georgia Tech's North. After North claimed the first set 7-5, Frayssinoux rallied to tie the match, winning the second set 6-2. North grabbed the break in the third set and held off Frayssinoux to claim the set 6-4 and clinch the win for the Jackets.
With the loss, State is now tied 2-2 with Georgia Tech in the all-time series. With wins in singles, Bjelica moved to 6-1 this season while Farlow improved to 12-8.
State will return to action Wednesday, Feb. 13 when they return home to the A.J. Pitts Tennis Centre to host Louisiana-Lafayette. Match time is set for 1 p.m. CT.
#41 Georgia Tech 4, #56 Mississippi State 3
Atlanta, Ga.-2/10/08
Doubles-Bjelica/Frayssinoux (MSU) def. Blackmon/Smith (GT) 9-8; Gomez/Potvin (GT) def. Necajevs/Stump (MSU) 9-8; Gvelesiani/North (GT) def. Farlow/Kuznetsov (MSU) 8-2.
Singles-Ivan Bjelica (MSU) def. #82 Guillermo Gomez (GT) 6-3, 3-6, 6-3; David North (GT) def. #14 Philippe Frayssinoux (MSU) 7-5, 2-6, 6-4; Ryan Farlow (MSU) def. Scott Blackmon (GT) 4-6, 6-1, 6-4; Ryan Smith (GT) def. Artem Kuznetsov (MSU) 6-2, 6-0; Antonio Lastre (MSU) def. Eliot Potvin (GT) 6-4, 7-5; Miguel Muguruza (GT) def. Maximilien Genuini (MSU) 6-4, 4-6, 6-3
