Mississippi State
Kentucky
MSU Men's Tennis Drops 4-3 Heartbreaker To Kentucky
March 28, 2008 | Men's Tennis
LEXINGTON, Ky. - The 38th-ranked Mississippi State men's tennis team dropped a hard fought 4-3 decision to 50th-ranked Kentucky Friday evening at the Boone Tennis Complex in Lexington, Ky. The Bulldogs fell to 8-7 overall and 2-5 in Southeastern Conference play.
Kentucky took an early lead in doubles when they rallied to win on two of three courts. The first complete came on court #1 where Wildcats Bruno Agostinelli and Brad Cox downed MSU's duo of Ivan Bjelica and Philippe Frayssinoux 8-3. The Bulldogs responded with a win on court #2 where Ryan Farlow and Pjotrs Necajevs topped UK's Will Beck and Shane Collins 8-2. The decision would then come down to court #3 where UK's team of Alex Lambropoulos and Marcus Sundh rallied from a 6-3 deficit to edge MSU's team of Chris Doerr and Tanner Stump 8-6.
UK would take a 2-0 advantage when Marcus Sundh downed State's Chris Doerr 6-0 7-5 on court 3 to begin singles play. The Bulldogs would storm back to even the match when 50th-ranked Frayssinoux moved past UK's Cox 7-6, 6-3 on court #3 and MSU's Farlow rallied in the third set to defeat Beck of Kentucky 6-1, 3-6, 6-4 on court #4. With the match tied 2-2, UK began to pull away from State. The Wildcats took a 3-2 advantage as 48th-ranked Agostinelli held on to defeat State's 37th-ranked Bjelica 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 on court #1. MSU left its chances to rally with a pair of true freshman on courts #5 and #6. However it was not to be as Kentucky clinched the win as Wildcat Alex Lambropoulos defeated State's Stump 6-3, 6-3 on court #6. MSU's Antonio Lastre defeated UK's Alberto Gonzales on court #5 as Gonzales defaulted 6-1, 2-6, 3-3 after the match was clinched to give MSU its third point.
"It takes something extra to win on the road in the SEC, and we just couldn't finish when the opportunity presented itself," said MSU head coach Per Nilsson. "It is disappointing to lose a match when it was in your hand."
With the loss, State fell to 18-21 against Kentucky in the series since 1969. Frayssinoux upped his win streak to six matches while Bjelica had a three match winning streak snapped. The doubles team of Ryan Farlow and Pjotrs Necajevs snapped a two match losing skid with their doubles win.
The Bulldogs will continue its road swing Sunday, as they take on 35th-ranked Vanderbilt in Nashville, Tenn. Match time is set for 1 p.m. CT.
#50 Kentucky 4, #38 Mississippi State 3
Lexington, Ky.-3/28/08
Doubles-Bruno Agostinelli/Brad Cox (UK) def. Ivan Bjelica/Philippe Frayssinoux (MSU) 8-3; Ryan Farlow/Pjotrs Necajevs (MSU) def. Will Beck/Shane Collins (UK) 8-2; Alex Lambropoulos/Marcus Sundh (UK) def. Chris Doerr/Tanner Stump (MSU) 8-6
Singles-#48 Agostinelli (UK) def. #37 Bjelica (MSU) 6-4, 3-6, 6-3; #50 Frayssinoux (MSU) def. Cox (UK) 7-6, 6-3; Sundh (UK) def. Doerr (MSU) 6-0, 7-5; Farlow (MSU) def. Beck (UK) 6-1, 3-6, 6-4; Antonio Lastre (MSU) def. Alberto Gonzales (UK) 6-1, 2-6, 3-3, def..; Alex Lambropoulos (UK) def. Stump (MSU) 6-3, 6-3
Players Mentioned
