Mississippi State
South Alabama
Bulldogs Top South Alabama 4-3
February 17, 2008 | Men's Tennis
STARKVILLE, Miss. - The Mississippi State men's tennis team took control of the match early and hung on for a 4-3 victory over 46th-ranked South Alabama Sunday at the A.J. Pitts Tennis Centre. The Bulldogs captured their second straight victory and improved to 3-2 this season.
With only five players available, South Alabama was forced to default the #3 doubles match to start the match. Needing only one victory to claim the opening point, State's pair of Ivan Bjelica and Philippe Frayssinoux were the first off the courts as they claimed an 8-5 victory over South Alabama's eighth-ranked pair of Jack Baker and Marek Sramek to claim the doubles point. On court #2, State's pair of Pjotrs Necajevs and Tanner Stump could not hold onto an early lead, dropping an 8-5 decision to USA's pair of Robert Hodel and R.J. Nagel.
Without a sixth player, South Alabama defaulted at the #6 court which gave State a 2-0 lead heading into singles play. MSU took a 3-0 when Farlow breezed past Hodel 6-2, 6-1 at the #3 spot. Several moments later, State freshman Antonio Lastre clinched the match for the Bulldogs with a convincing 6-1, 6-2 victory over Jaguar Aaron Krisan on court 5.
All three of the remaining singles would be decided in a third-set supertiebreaker after the first two sets were split. South Alabama claimed their first match at the #4 spot where Nagel outlasted State's Necajevs 6-3, 4-6, 1-0(3). After storming to a 6-0 first set win, MSU's Bjelica dropped the second set 7-6(2) in the tiebreaker and fell 1-0(8) in the third set to USA's Sramek. On court #2, State's Philippe Frayssinoux won the first set 6-4 before falling in the second set in a tiebreaker to Baker. In the supertiebreaker, Frayssinoux led 8-6 when he fell with an injury and was limited the rest of the way. Baker would rally to claim the tiebreaker 11-9 and give South Alabama its third point.
"We got off to a good start today which helped us get the win over a good South Alabama team," said MSU head coach Per Nilsson. "We were a little sluggish toward the end but we just have to learn from that and keep getting better. "
Sunday's win propelled the Bulldogs to a 3-0 home mark this season. State improved to 12-7 against South Alabama since 1970 which includes an 8-4 mark at home against USA in that span. Farlow improved to 4-1 in dual matches this spring with the win at the #3 spot while Lastre moved to 3-0 in dual matches. With the win over the nation's eighth-ranked doubles team, Bjelica and Frayssinoux move to 2-0 this season.
The Bulldogs will conclude their current non-conference homestand Saturday, Feb. 23 when they host Georgia State. Match time is slated for 1 p.m. at the A.J. Pitts Tennis Centre.
#53 Mississippi State 4, #46 South Alabama 3
STARKVILLE, Miss.-2/17/08
Doubles-Ivan Bjelica/Philippe Frayssinoux (MSU) def. #8 Jack Baker/Marek Sramek (USA) 8-5; Robert Hodel/R.J. Nagel (USA) def. Pjotrs Necajevs/Tanner Stump (MSU) 8-5; MSU won #3 doubles by default.
Singles-Sramek (USA) def. Bjelica (MSU) 0-6, 7-6(2), 1-0(8); #20 Baker (USA) def. #14 Frayssinoux (MSU) 4-6, 7-6(1), 1-0(9); Ryan Farlow (MSU) def. Hodel (USA) 6-2, 6-1; Nagel (USA) def. Necajevs (MSU) 6-3, 4-6, 1-0(3); Antonio Lastre (MSU) def. Aaron Krisan (USA) 6-1, 6-2: MSU won #6 singles by default.
