State Women's Tennis Downs North Texas For Season-Opening, 5-0 Victory

Saturday, January 24

Lubbock, Texas

12:00 PM

Mississippi State

North Texas

State Women's Tennis Wins Again; Downs Nationally-Ranked South Alabama, 4-3

State Women's Tennis Downs North Texas For Season-Opening, 5-0 Victory

January 24, 2009 | Women's Tennis

By: hailstate.com

LUBBOCK, Texas - After a six-hour delay due to inclement weather forced play indoors, the Mississippi State women's tennis team picked up a season-opening, 5-0 victory over North Texas Saturday night at Texas Tech's McLeod Tennis Facility.

MSU looked impressive early on as the team powered through doubles play to earn the first point in the match. Building on their fall performances, the Lady Bulldog rookie duo of Natalia Mayuk and Olesya Tsigvintseva picked up a 9-7 victory over the tandem of Madura Ranganathan and Irina Paraschiv from North Texas at the No.1 position. Playing at the No.2 spot, veterans Martina Banikova and Elna de Villiers battled for an 8-4 triumph over the Mean Green pair of Rachel Wilhelm and Amy Joubert. State's only loss in doubles competition came at No. 3 where Radka Ferancova and Daniela Juskova lost a tight 9-7 decision to the North Texas pair of Catalina Cruz and Narine Kazarova.

In singles competition, the Lady Bulldogs cruised, winning three matches in straight sets and another in a three-set affair. Ferancova and de Villiers registered straight-set victories at the No. 3 and 4 spots, respectively, to put State up 3-0. Ferancova downed Kazarova 6-1, 6-1 while de Villiers notched a 6-0, 6-2 victory over Cruz.

Clinching the match for MSU was the freshman Tsigvintseva, winning 6-2, 6-3 over North Texas's Paula Dinuta at the No. 2 position. Banikova finished State's scoring by battling for a 6-3, 3-6, 1-0(4) victory over Irina Paraschiv at the top spot.

Matches at the No. 5 and 6 singles spots were suspended in the first set once the match was clinched.

With the win, the Lady Bulldogs move their record to 10-3 in season-opening contests under Coach Tracy Lane.

The Lady Bulldogs will be back in action Sunday morning, as they play home-standing Texas Tech in a contest slated for 10 a.m. CT.

Mississippi State 5, North Texas 0
1/24/09 ? Lubbock, Texas

DOUBLES ? Natalia Mayuk/Olesya Tsigvintseva (MSU) def. Madura Ranganathan/Irina Paraschiv (North Texas) 9-7; Martina Banikova/Elna de Villiers (MSU) def. Rachel Wilhelm/Amy Joubert (North Texas) 8-4;Catalina Cruz/Narine Kazarova (North Texas) def. Radka Ferancova/Daniela Juskova (MSU) 9-7.

SINGLES ? Banikova (MSU) def. Paraschiv (North Texas) 6-3, 3-6, 1-0(4); Tsigvintseva (MSU) def. Paula Dinuta (North Texas) 6-2, 6-3; Ferancova (MSU) def. Kazarova (North Texas) 6-1, 6-1;De Villiers (MSU) def. Cruz (North Texas) 6-0, 6-2; Mayuk (MSU) vs. Joubert (North Texas) susp.; Valeriya Makarycheva (MSU) vs. Wilhelm (North Texas) susp.