Mississippi State
Florida
Bulldog Netmen Fall 5-2 At #18 Florida
March 23, 2008 | Men's Tennis
GAINESVILLE, Fla. - The Mississippi State men's tennis team dropped a close 5-2 decision to 18th-ranked Florida Sunday at the Ring Tennis Complex on the Florida campus. State fell to 8-6 overall and 2-4 in conference play with the loss.
UF gained early control in a very closely contested doubles point. The first match complete came on court #2 as the MSU tandem of Ryan Farlow and Pjotrs Necajevs fell 8-3 to UF's Nestor Briceno and Alex Lacroix. On court #1, Ivan Bjelica and Philippe Frayssinoux downed Florida's Jeff Dadamo and Greg Ouellette 8-5 to send the decision to court #3. Despite an early break on court 3, State's team of Chris Doerr and Tanner Stump dropped a close 8-6 match to UF's Tyler Hochwalt and Geoffrey Barton, giving Florida the 1-0 lead.
The Gators took a 2-0 lead when UF's Corace topped MSU's Stump 6-1, 6-2 on court #6. Florida then pushed the lead to 3-0 as Hochwalt defeated State's Artem Kuznetsov 6-3, 6-4 on court #5. The clinching point for UF came on court #4 as Florida's Dadamo defeated MSU's Antonio Lastre 6-2, 6-4. Florida took a 4-0 lead when UF's Lacroix outlasted State's Farlow 6-4, 7-5 on court #3. MSU's 50th-ranked Frayssinoux gave State its first point as he defeated UF's Briceno 6-2, 7-5 on court #2. In the final match on court #1, MSU's 37th-ranked Bjelica rallied to upend third-ranked Ouellette 4-6, 6-4, 1-0(3) on court #1 and close the scoring at 5-2.
"We are getting better in doubles and should have won the doubles point today," said MSU head coach Per Nilsson. "Losing it hurt us in the beginning of singles. We need to be ready for singles either way. It is something we discussed after the match and it will not happen again. The guys are starting to believe they can beat top-10 teams and it is only a matter of time before we break through. UF played hard as they are one of the best teams in the country, but we are catching up."
With the loss, State now trails Florida 27-14 in the all-time series. Florida also won their seventh straight over the Bulldogs on Sunday. Frayssinoux won his fifth-straight while Bjelica improved to 4-1 in Southeastern Conference play.
MSU will continue action on the road next weekend as the Bulldogs travel to Lexington, Ky., Friday, March 28 to face Kentucky, followed by a matchup Sunday, March 30 with Vanderbilt in Nashville, Tenn.
#18 Florida 5, #47 Mississippi State 2
Gainesville, Fla.-3/23/08
Doubles-Ivan Bjelica/Philippe Frayssinoux (MSU) def. Jeff Dadamo/Greg Ouellette (UF) 8-5; Nestor Briceno/Alex Lacroix (UF) def. Ryan Farlow/Pjotrs Necajevs (MSU) 8-3; Tyler Hochwalt/Geoffrey Barton (UF) def. Chris Doerr/Tanner Stump (MSU) 8-6.
Singles-#37 Bjelica (MSU) def. #3 Ouellette (UF) 4-6, 6-4, 1-0(3); #50 Frayssinoux (MSU) def. Briceno (UF) 6-2, 7-5; Lacroix (UF) def. Farlow (MSU) 6-4, 7-5; Dadamo (UF) def. Antonio Lastre (MSU) 6-2, 6-4; Hochwalt (UF) def. Artem Kuznetsov (MSU) 6-3, 6-4; Corace (UF) def. Stump (MSU) 6-1, 6-2.
Players Mentioned
