Mississippi State
Auburn
MSU Men's Tennis Upsets 23rd-Ranked Auburn
March 09, 2008 | Men's Tennis
STARKVILLE, Miss. - The Mississippi State men's tennis team won its first conference match of the season Sunday, defeating 23rd-ranked Auburn 4-3 at the A.J. Pitts Tennis Centre. State evened its season's record to 5-5 and moved to 1-3 in Southeastern Conference play.
"I was really pleased with how we played today," said MSU head coach Per Nilsson. "We started out well with doubles and carried it over into singles. This is a good win for us and gives us something we can build on in the next couple of weeks."
MSU opened the match in convincing fashion, sweeping the doubles point. First off the courts was the duo of Ivan Bjelica and Philippe Frayssinoux who topped Auburn's team of Alexey Tsyrenov and Terence Nugent 8-2 on court #1. The Bulldogs clinched the opening point as sophomore Chris Doerr and freshman Tanner Stump defeated AU's Alex Petropoulos and Pawel Dilaj 8-4 on court #3. State closed in on the sweep when Bulldogs Ryan Farlow and Pjotrs Necajevs downed Tigers Tim Puetz and Lukas Marsoun 8-4 on court #2.
State would gain momentum early in singles play, winning the first set on five of six courts. The Bulldogs took a 2-0 lead when freshman Antonio Lastre handled Auburn's Petropoulos 6-1, 6-4 at the #6 position. The lead was extended to 3-0 when State's 32nd-ranked Frayssinoux closed out AU's 114th-ranked Puetz 6-2, 6-2 on court #2. Auburn closed the gap to 3-1 when AU's Dilaj outlasted Bulldog Artem Kuznetsov 6-4, 6-3 on court #5. With three closely contested matches remaining on court, the decision would ultimately come down to court #4 between MSU's Farlow and Auburn's Nugent. Battling set points in the first set, Farlow rallied from a 6-4 tiebreaker deficit to win the first set 7-6(8). The Madison, Miss., native would eventually break Nugent's serve twice in the second set as he eased to a 6-3 win and clinched the win for State.
Auburn notched its second point as Marsoun outlasted MSU's Doerr 5-7, 7-5, 6-4 on court #3. Auburn's 89th-ranked Tsyrenov would claim the final point of the match, as he topped MSU's 26th-ranked Bjelica 2-6, 7-5, 7-6(3) on court #1.
With the win, State moved to 5-1 at home this season. MSU also snapped a two-match skid to the Tigers. Farlow captured his team leading sixth dual match win of the spring while Lastre won his fifth.
MSU will next be in action Wednesday as they travel to Las Vegas, Nev., to face UNLV followed by a matchup with Nevada Saturday, March 15.
#49 Mississippi State 4, #23 Auburn 3
Starkville, Miss.-3/9/08
Doubles-Ivan Bjelica/Philippe Frayssinoux (MSU) def. Alexey Tsyrenov/Terence Nugent (AU) 8-2; Ryan Farlow/Pjotrs Necajevs (MSU) def. Tim Puetz/Lukas Marsoun (AU) 8-4; Chris Doerr/Tanner Stump (MSU) def. Alex Petropoulos/Pawel Dilaj (AU) 8-4.
Singles-#89 Tsyrenov (AU) def. #26 Bjelica (MSU) 2-6, 7-5, 7-6(3); #32 Frayssinoux (MSU) def. #114 Puetz (AU) 6-2, 6-2; Marsoun (AU) def. Doerr (MSU) 5-7, 7-5, 6-4; Farlow (MSU) def. Nugent (AU) 7-6(8), 6-3; Dilaj (AU) def. Artem Kuznetsov (MSU) 6-4, 6-3; Antonio Lastre (MSU) def. Petropoulos (AU) 6-1, 6-4.
Players Mentioned
