Mississippi State
Louisiana-Monroe
Tran Lifts Mississippi State To 4-3 Win Against ULM
February 17, 2012 | Women's Tennis
STARKVILLE, Miss. - Mississippi State Lady Bulldog tennis (3-1) brought home a 4-3 victory after coming down to the wire in a gripping match against the Lady Warhawks of Louisiana Monroe (4-1) Thursday at the Pitts Tennis Centre on campus.
MSU freshman Naomi Tran rallied for a 1-6, 6-3, 6-3 comeback victory in the last match on court - at the No. 5 position - to lift State over ULM, which suffered its first loss of 2012.
The Lady Bulldogs gained the opening point of the match with two doubles wins. Alexandra Perper and Olesya Tsigvintseva began the match with a bang, notching an 8-3 win against Monica Winkel and Medy Blankvoort of Louisiana Monroe at No. 2. Petra Ferancova and Khrystyna Pavlyuk then fell 8-5 versus Vivian Polak and Ema Turudija at No. 3, but Ekaterina Iakovleva and Tran paired up to provide a nailbiting 9-7 victory against the ULM duo of Sophie Rufyikiri and Silvia Tumova at No. 1, handing MSU a 1-0 lead.
The beginning of singles play looked grim as Tsigvintseva quickly fell 6-1, 6-1 to ULM's Silvia Tumova on court 4.
Perper was able to hold off Monica Winkel, winning 6-3, 7-5, to give State the lead at 2-1. However, that win was followed by a 6-1, 6-3 loss at the No. 6 position, where Ferancova fell to the 88th-ranked Polak.
State's Pavlyuk then came up short, losing 6-3, 6-2 in a battle against ULM's Blankvoort at No. 3, giving the Lady Warhawks a 3-2 lead. But Lady Bulldog Iakovleva kept State in the match with a 7-5, 6-4 victory over Rufyikiri at No. 2, rallying from a 3-0 deficit in the second set for the win.
The fate of the match then rested in the hands of the rookie Tran, who was able to battle back after falling 6-1 in the first set. After securing a 6-3 victory in the second set, the pressure was on. Tran jumped out early in the third, taking the first three games before her opponent, Isabelle Rocher, was able to break to cut the score to 3-1.The match remained at 3-1 through countless deuces, but eventually Rocher was able to hold her serve to 3-2.
Three-straight holds of serve left the score at 5-3 Tran, who then held her composure and buckled down to break Rocher for the set and match. While executing such an admirable feat, the freshman remained calm and collected.
"I wasn't really nervous," Tran said. "The girls cheering in the background definitely helped. I was just glad that I could come back after losing the first set."
The Lady Bulldogs will be back in action on their home courts at 1 p.m. this Sunday, Feb. 19, as they take on Stephen F. Austin.
MISSISSIPPI STATE 4, LOUISIANA MONROE 3
Feb. 16, 2012 - Starkville, MS
DOUBLES -
1) Ekaterina Iakovleva/Naomi Tran (MSU) def. Sophie Rufyikiri/Silvia Tumova (ULM) 9-7
2) Alexandra Perper/Olesya Tisgvintseva (MSU) def. Monica Winkel/Medy Blankvoort (ULM) 8-3
3) Vivian Polak/Ema Turudija (ULM) def. Petra Ferancova/Khrystyna Pavlyuk (MSU) 8-5
SINGLES -
1) Alexandra Perper (MSU) def. Monica Winkel (ULM) 6-3, 7-5
2) Ekaterina Iakovleva (MSU) def. Sophie Rufyikiri (ULM) 7-5, 6-4
3) Medy Blankvoort (ULM) def. Khrystyna Pavlyuk (MSU) 6-3, 6-2
4) Silvia Tumova (ULM) def. Olesya Tisgvintseva (MSU) 6-1, 6-1
5) Naomi Tran (MSU) def. Isabelle Rocher (ULM) 1-6, 6-3, 6-3
6) 88 Vivian Polak (ULM) def. Petra Ferancova (MSU) 6-1, 6-3
Order of finish: Doubles (2,3,1), Singles (4,1,6,3,2,5)
(numbers before names indicate national rankings)
