Mississippi State
Tennessee
MSU Women's Tennis Suffers First Loss Of Season To Tennessee
March 06, 2009 | Women's Tennis
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. ? Mississippi State's 57th-ranked women's tennis team (8-1, 0-1 Southeastern Conference) dropped its first match of the season Friday in a 5-2 loss at No. 12 Tennessee (7-1, 1-0).
It was a shaky start to the day early on for MSU in doubles, as the opening point fell in Tennessee's favor. State's Natalia Mayuk and Olesya Tsigvintseva dropped an 8-3 decision to UT's Caitlin Whoriskey and Natalie Pluskota at the top spot. Courts 2 and 3 were a bit tighter. At No. 3, the Lady Bulldog pair of Radka Ferancova and Daniela Juskova fell to the Volunteer pair of Jennifer Meredith and Zsofia Zubor 8-5. State's team of Martina Banikova and Elna de Villiers salvaged an 8-7 win at the No. 2 spot, downing Maria Sorbello and Samantha Orlin.
Down 1-0, Mississippi State looked to singles to try and upend the Lady Vols, but Tennessee quickly put away the Lady Bulldogs, winning the first four matches complete to seal the affair.
At position No. 2, Tennessee built up their lead when MSU freshman Tsigvintseva fell 6-1, 6-1 to UT's Pluskota. Playing at the No. 3 spot, MSU's Ferancova looked to remain undefeated in dual match play, but fell short in a 6-0, 6-3 setback to Samantha Orlin of the Lady Vols, ending Ferancova's eight-match singles winning streak.
The clinching match for UT came from the No. 5 spot where Meredith bested MSU's Mayuk 6-0, 6-3. State's Banikova then fell to the 57th-ranked Whoriskey 6-3, 6-2 at the top spot for a 5-0 advantage for the Vols.
MSU would conclude the day well, picking up victories in the last two contests of the afternoon. Junior Valeriya Makarycheva pushed her personal match winning streak to six in an impressive 6-3, 7-6 triumph over UT's Zubor at the No. 6 position. De Villiers gave State its last point of the day, edging Tennessee's Rosalia Alda 7-5, 4-6, 1-0.
Next up, the Lady Bulldogs travel to Athens, Ga., to take on the second-ranked Georgia Bulldogs Sunday afternoon. The battle between State and UGA is slated for a Noon CT start.
#12 Tennessee 5, #57 Mississippi State 2
March 6, 2009 - Knoxville, Tenn.
DOUBLES ? Caitlin Whoriskey/Natalie Pluskota (UT) def. Natalia Mayuk/Olesya Tsigvintseva (MSU) 8-3; Martina Banikova/Elna de Villiers (MSU) def. Maria Sorbello/Samantha Orlin (UT) 8-7; Zsofia Zubor/Jennifer Meredith (UT) def. Radka Ferancova/Daniela Juskova (MSU) 8-5.
SINGLES - #57 Whoriskey (UT) def. Banikova (MSU) 6-3, 6-2; Pluskota (UT) def. Tsigvintseva (MSU) 6-1, 6-1; Orlin (UT) def. Ferancova (MSU) 6-0, 6-3; de Villiers (MSU) def. Rosalia Alda (UT) 7-5, 4-6, 1-0; Meredith (UT) def. Mayuk (MSU) 6-0, 6-3; Valeriya Makarycheva (MSU) def. Zubor (UT) 6-3, 7-6.
Order of finish... Singles (2,3,5,1,6,4) Doubles (1,3,2)
