Lady Bulldog Tennis Blanks Southeastern Louisiana

Tuesday, February 19

Starkville

2:00 p.m.

Mississippi State

Southeastern Louisiana

Lady Bulldog Netters Fall In SEC Tournament Opener To Tennessee

Lady Bulldog Tennis Blanks Southeastern Louisiana

February 19, 2008 | Women's Tennis

By: hailstate.com

STARKVILE, Miss. ? The Mississippi State's women's tennis team defeated Southeastern Louisiana T at the A.J. Pitts Tennis Centre to claim its fourth victory of the 2008 season. The Bulldogs are now 4-0 on the season; their best start since starting 6-0 in 2005.

“It is always good to get a win,” said head coach Tracy Lane. “This might not have been our prettiest win, but it was a very hard-fought win. It is good to see that even when we are not playing our best, we can still find a way to win.”

MSU grabbed the doubles point early with strong 8-1 and 8-3 wins at the No. 3 and 1 positions, respectively. At No. 3, State's pairing of Daniela Juskova and Valeriya Makarycheva downed SLU's tandem of Maja Bradonjic and Breda Kovac. On court #1, MSU's team of Martina Banikova and Elna de Villiers bested Southeastern Louisiana's Emilija Arnaudovska and Iva Velkovska. Mississippi State also won at the No. 2 position with Bulldogs Radka Ferancova and Renee Joseph defeating SLU's Bonnie Phillips and Jana Simurkova 8-3.

In singles, MSU took a 2-0 advantage when DeAndra Saddler promptly defeated Bradonjic 6-1, 6-0. State went up 3-0 when Radka Ferancova provided a 6-2, 6-0 win over Southeastern Louisiana's Kovac at position No. 3.

The match-clincher would come at the No. 5 spot, where Mississippi State's Juskova bested SLU's Phillips 6-3, 6-2. In the other singles matches, MSU's Banikova posted a straight-set win over Arnaudovska 6-3, 6-2 at the No. 1 position while State's de Villiers also defeated Simurkova in straight sets 7-5, 6-3 on court No.5. Mississippi State finished off the sweep of the singles matches with the 67th-ranked Joseph defeating Velkovska in three sets 4-6, 6-2, 1-0(7).

State's next action will come at home this Friday, Feb. 22 at 2 p.m. against Troy University and then again on Sunday, Feb. 24, at 1 p.m. against 57th-ranked South Alabama.

MISSISSIPPI STATE 7, SOUTHEASTERN LOUISIANA 0
February 19, 2008 ? Starkville, Miss.

DOUBLES ? Martina Banikova/Elna de Villiers (MSU) def. Emilija Arnaudovska/Iva Velkovska (SLU) 8-3; Radka Ferancova/Renee Joseph (MSU) def. Bonnie Phillips/Jana Simurkova (SLU) 8-3; Daniela Juskova/Valeriya Makarycheva (MSU) def. Maja Bradonjic/Breda Kovac (SLU) 8-1.

SINGLES ? Banikova (MSU) def. Arnaudovska (SLU) 6-3, 6-2; #67 Joseph (MSU) def. Velkovska (SLU) 4-6, 6-2, 1-0(7); Ferancova (MSU) def. Kovac (SLU) 6-2, 6-0; de Villiers (MSU) def. Simurkova (SLU) 7-5, 6-3; Juskova (MSU) def. Phillips (SLU) 6-3, 6-2; DeAndra Saddler (MSU) def. Bradonjic (SLU) 6-1, 6-0.