Mississippi State
Georgia
MSU Women?s Tennis Drops SEC Home Opener To No. 11 Georgia
March 08, 2014 | Women's Tennis
With the loss, the Bulldogs fall to 8-5 on the season and 0-3 in SEC play. The loss is also Mississippi State's first home loss of the year. Georgia improves to 8-2 overall and 2-0 in SEC play.
Despite a big top 5 upset win for State at the top position in doubles, Georgia would hold off State to claim the opening point of the afternoon with two tiebreak wins.
MSU's Roseline Dion and Timea Guibe would drop the first doubles match 8-3 on court 2 to Georgia's Kate Fuller and Silvia Garcia. However, the Bulldogs would respond with a major upset, as the doubles tandem of Alexandra Perper and Naomi Tran defeated the No. 2 nationally ranked UGA duo of Lauren Herring and Maho Kowase, 8-7(9) at No. 1. Another tiebreaker on court 3 would settle the doubles point, as Petra Ferancova and Georgiana Patrasc fell 8-7(1) to Georgia's pair of Caroline Brinson and Lilly Kimbell.
Singles action began with a setback for State on court 3, as Dion fell 6-2, 6-0 to the 22nd-ranked Kowase. MSU's Tran was the next to fall, dropping a 6-4, 6-0 decision on court 5. Georgia would then clinch the match with a 6-1, 6-2 victory on No. 6 over Rosalinda Calderon.
Two of the final three matches would go to third set tiebreakers and and first-set breaker on court 1 was also forced. On No. 4, State's Guibe forced a tiebreaker after claiming the second set, but fell in a close 3-6, 6-3, 0-1(6) decision to UGA's Fuller. Court 1 was the next to finish, where State's 93rd-ranked Patrasc dropped a tight first-set tiebreaker and then the match 7-6(4), 6-1 to Georgia's 10th-ranked Herring.
The final match to finish was on court 2, where MSU's Perper also dropped a nailbiter, falling 7-6(5), 2-5, 0-1(8) to 12th-ranked Garcia.
“I'm very pleased with how our girls performed today,” said head coach Daryl Greenan. “We competed well and had some great matches with a very good Georgia team. Our doubles was a big highlight, with Sasha and Naomi playing great in their upset over the number two doubles team in the country. The final score looked lopsided, but we were only a few tiebreakers from a 4-3 match.”
The Bulldogs will now host No. 42 Tennessee (4-6 overall, 0-2 SEC) on Sunday at 1 p.m. at the A.J. Pitts Tennis Centre. Live stats will be available on hailstate.com.
For more information on the Mississippi State women's tennis team, fans can follow the Bulldogs on Twitter (@HailStateWT), Facebook (HailStateWT) and Instagram (HailStateWT).
No. 11 Georgia 7, Mississippi State 0
March 7, 2014 – A.J. Pitts Tennis Centre – Starkville, Miss.
Doubles
1. Alexandra Perper/Naomi Tran (MSU) def. No. 2 Lauren Herring/Maho Kowase (UGA), 8-7(9)
2. Kate Fuller/Silvia Garcia (UGA) def. Roseline Dion/Timea Guibe (MSU), 8-3
3. Caroline Brinson/Lilly Kimbell (UGA) def. Petra Ferancova/Georgiana Patrasc (MSU), 8-7(1)
Singles
1. No. 10 Lauren Herring (UGA) def. No. 93 Georgiana Patrasc (MSU) 7-6(4), 6-1
2. No. 12 Silvia Garcia (UGA) def. Alexandra Perper (MSU) 6-7(5), 6-2, 0-1(8)
3. No. 22 Maho Kowase (UGA) def. Roseline Dion (MSU) 6-2, 6-0
4. Kate Fuller (UGA) def. Timea Guibe (MSU) 6-3, 3-6, 0-1(6)
5. Mia King (UGA) def. Naomi Tran (MSU) 6-4, 6-0
6. Caroline Brinson (UGA) def. Rosalinda Calderon (MSU) 6-1, 6-2
Order of finish
Doubles: 2,1,3
Singles: 3,5,6,4,1,2
Players Mentioned
