ATHENS, Ga. ? Mississippi State's women's tennis team (8-2, 0-2 SEC) concluded its tough start to the conference slate with a 6-1 loss to second-ranked Georgia (11-1, 2-0 SEC) Sunday afternoon on the road.
Georgia came into the match with MSU as the highest-ranked team in the Southeastern Conference. The Lady Bulldogs of UGA had four singles players and one doubles team ranked in the ITA National Rankings coming into the contest with State, proving to be a tough task for the MSU Lady Netters.
“We knew it was going to be tough, but I think we saw a lot of improvements all around today,” said head coach Tracy Lane. “I was very pleased with the top of our lineup.”
Mississippi State started the day taking two losses in doubles. MSU's freshman duo of Natalia Mayuk and Olesya Tsigvintseva fell to the 73rd-ranked UGA tandem of Nadja Gilchrist and Chelsea Gullickson 8-2 at No. 1 before Lady Bulldogs Radka Ferancova and Daniela Juskova dropped an 8-3 decision to Georgia's pair of Lara Fakhoury and Naoka Ueshima at the No. 2 position.
MSU's lone win came at court No. 2, where the senior duo of Martina Banikova and Elna de Villiers ousted Georgia's tandem of Monica Dancevic and Cameron Ellis 8-6.
Trailing 1-0 after doubles, Mississippi State looked to singles for some much-needed wins. Georgia continued its strong performance however, winning on courts 4, 5 and 6 in straight sets to clinch the match early on.
The match clincher came at the No.5 position where State's Mayuk fell to Ueshima of Georgia 6-1, 6-2.
Ferancova picked up Mississippi State's lone win on the day. Playing at the No. 3 position, the junior won in a 7-6(2), 6-4 triumph over 77th-ranked Dancevic.
“I am very happy for Radka. It was a great win for her, and she continues to play great for us,” said coach Lane.
At the top two positions, UGA posted two more victories over State's Banikova and Tsigvintseva to seal the match in Georgia's favor 6-1.
Looking for its first conference win of the season, State will return home to welcome Alabama and Auburn to the A.J. Pitts Tennis Centre next weekend. The Lady Bulldogs play host to Auburn Friday, March 13, starting at 2 p.m. CT, before taking on the Crimson Tide in a 1 p.m. CT start next Sunday, March 15.
#2 Georgia 6, #57 Mississippi State 1
March 8, 2009 - Athens, Ga.
DOUBLES ? #73 Nadja Gilchrist/Chelsea Gullickson (UGA) def. Natalia Mayuk/Olesya Tsigvintseva (MSU) 8-2; Martina Banikova/Elna de Villers (MSU) def. Monica Dancevic/Cameron Ellis (UGA) 8-6; Lara Falkhoury/Naoka Ueshima (UGA) def. Radka Ferancova/Daniela Juskova (MSU) 8-3.
SINGLES - #6 Gullickson (UGA) def. Banikova (MSU) 6-2, 6-3; #43 Yvette Hyndman def. Tsigvintseva (MSU) 7-5, 6-1; Ferancova (MSU) def. #77 Dancevic (UGA) 7-6 (2), 6-4; #51 Gilchrist (UGA) def. de Villiers (MSU) 6-0, 6-2; Ueshima (UGA) def. Mayuk (MSU) 6-1, 6-2; Ellis (UGA) def. Valeriya Makarycheva (MSU) 6-0, 6-1.
Order of finish... Doubles (1, 3, 2) Singles (6, 4, 5, 1, 2, 3)
