MSU swept the SEC weekly honors after a stellar weekend on the court.
Lee, Lizariturry Sweep SEC Weekly Honors For Bulldogs
April 05, 2017 | Women's Tennis
STARKVILLE, Miss. – After leading No. 16 Mississippi State women's tennis (13-5, 6-4 SEC) to back-to-back ranked wins over the weekend, senior Jasmine Lee and freshman Sara Lizariturry were named the Southeastern Conference Player of the Week and Freshman of the Week, respectively.
Wednesday's sweep of SEC weekly honors was the first for the Bulldogs in program history. The honors were also Lee and Lizariturry's first weekly awards at MSU.
"Jasmine and Sara were instrumental in both wins last weekend and these awards are well deserved," head coach Daryl Greenan said. "Our team had an incredible weekend and we're peaking at just the right time."
Lee and Lizariturry went a combined 7-1 over the weekend to propel MSU to a 4-1 win over No. 25 Texas A&M and a 6-1 victory against No. 19 LSU. The two wins vaulted the Bulldogs to No. 16 nationally, their highest team ranking in program history.
Lee turned in an impressive weekend for MSU that saw the senior down three ranked foes to help the Bulldogs defeat the Aggies and Tigers. Lee improved her record to 19-5 overall in singles and 21-5 in doubles with partner Lisa Marie Rioux.
Against the Aggies, Lee downed TAMU's No. 39 Rachel Pierson after a thrilling comeback in her third-set tiebreaker to win, 6-2, 0-6, 7-6(5) and tilt the momentum in MSU's favor with a 3-1 lead in the match. On Senior Day, Lee and partner Rioux clawed back from a 4-1 deficit to clinch the doubles point after defeating LSU's No. 20 Ryann Foster and Joana Valle Costa, 6-4. Lee then handled No. 30 Jade Lewis in singles, 6-2, 6-0 to cap her stellar Senior Day performance.
"Jasmine has had some outstanding weekends this season," Greenan said. "The SEC is loaded with great players, so it really is an accomplishment to win a weekly award in our conference. She has continued to be solid for us each and every weekend, but it was nice that her performance on Senior Day was the one to put her over the top."
The SEC Player of the Week honor is the first for MSU since Georgiana Patrasc won the award on Feb. 18, 2015. The weekly award is Lee's first as a Bulldog.
For Lizariturry, the freshman turned in a perfect 4-0 weekend in doubles and singles action to help power the Bulldogs past TAMU and LSU. The freshman is now 17-8 overall in singles play, with only Lee's 19-5 mark better on the team.
Lizariturry earned a pair of straight-set wins in singles as the freshman blew past TAMU's Macarena Olivares, 6-1, 6-1 and LSU's Skylar Holloway, 6-3, 6-3 to cap another big weekend at the No. 6 spot. In doubles play she cruised to a 6-2 and 6-1 decision against her Aggie and Tiger foes with partners Anastasia Rentouli and Madison Harrison.
"Sara has had some great performance as well," Greenan said. "She's been a big part of our success and has clinched some big SEC wins for us. This weekend Sara was particularly strong, by putting in a clean performance in both singles and doubles. She really played some of her best tennis this past weekend and I feel she's starting play to with a lot of confidence."
The SEC Freshman of the Week honor is the first for the Bulldogs since Louise Ronaldson took home the laurel on Jan. 21, 2015. The weekly award is Lizariturry's first at MSU.
"These kind of awards will help Jasmine and Sara with their confidence going forward," Greenan said. "Jasmine definitely put a beat down on a very high-level player in Jade Lewis of LSU, so I know her performance will only elevate her game. For Sara, the weekend she had has raised the bar for her and hopefully she can see herself winning at even a higher level now."
Up Next
The Bulldogs will travel for their final three matches of the regular season. MSU begins the road gauntlet with No. 13 South Carolina on Friday and No. 1 Florida on Sunday, before closing out the season at No. 26 Ole Miss on April 15.
Additional Notes
Social Media
For more information on the Mississippi State men's tennis program, follow "HailStateMT" on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
Wednesday's sweep of SEC weekly honors was the first for the Bulldogs in program history. The honors were also Lee and Lizariturry's first weekly awards at MSU.
"Jasmine and Sara were instrumental in both wins last weekend and these awards are well deserved," head coach Daryl Greenan said. "Our team had an incredible weekend and we're peaking at just the right time."
Lee and Lizariturry went a combined 7-1 over the weekend to propel MSU to a 4-1 win over No. 25 Texas A&M and a 6-1 victory against No. 19 LSU. The two wins vaulted the Bulldogs to No. 16 nationally, their highest team ranking in program history.
Lee turned in an impressive weekend for MSU that saw the senior down three ranked foes to help the Bulldogs defeat the Aggies and Tigers. Lee improved her record to 19-5 overall in singles and 21-5 in doubles with partner Lisa Marie Rioux.
Against the Aggies, Lee downed TAMU's No. 39 Rachel Pierson after a thrilling comeback in her third-set tiebreaker to win, 6-2, 0-6, 7-6(5) and tilt the momentum in MSU's favor with a 3-1 lead in the match. On Senior Day, Lee and partner Rioux clawed back from a 4-1 deficit to clinch the doubles point after defeating LSU's No. 20 Ryann Foster and Joana Valle Costa, 6-4. Lee then handled No. 30 Jade Lewis in singles, 6-2, 6-0 to cap her stellar Senior Day performance.
"Jasmine has had some outstanding weekends this season," Greenan said. "The SEC is loaded with great players, so it really is an accomplishment to win a weekly award in our conference. She has continued to be solid for us each and every weekend, but it was nice that her performance on Senior Day was the one to put her over the top."
The SEC Player of the Week honor is the first for MSU since Georgiana Patrasc won the award on Feb. 18, 2015. The weekly award is Lee's first as a Bulldog.
For Lizariturry, the freshman turned in a perfect 4-0 weekend in doubles and singles action to help power the Bulldogs past TAMU and LSU. The freshman is now 17-8 overall in singles play, with only Lee's 19-5 mark better on the team.
Lizariturry earned a pair of straight-set wins in singles as the freshman blew past TAMU's Macarena Olivares, 6-1, 6-1 and LSU's Skylar Holloway, 6-3, 6-3 to cap another big weekend at the No. 6 spot. In doubles play she cruised to a 6-2 and 6-1 decision against her Aggie and Tiger foes with partners Anastasia Rentouli and Madison Harrison.
"Sara has had some great performance as well," Greenan said. "She's been a big part of our success and has clinched some big SEC wins for us. This weekend Sara was particularly strong, by putting in a clean performance in both singles and doubles. She really played some of her best tennis this past weekend and I feel she's starting play to with a lot of confidence."
The SEC Freshman of the Week honor is the first for the Bulldogs since Louise Ronaldson took home the laurel on Jan. 21, 2015. The weekly award is Lizariturry's first at MSU.
"These kind of awards will help Jasmine and Sara with their confidence going forward," Greenan said. "Jasmine definitely put a beat down on a very high-level player in Jade Lewis of LSU, so I know her performance will only elevate her game. For Sara, the weekend she had has raised the bar for her and hopefully she can see herself winning at even a higher level now."
Up Next
The Bulldogs will travel for their final three matches of the regular season. MSU begins the road gauntlet with No. 13 South Carolina on Friday and No. 1 Florida on Sunday, before closing out the season at No. 26 Ole Miss on April 15.
Additional Notes
- The SEC weekly honor sweep is the first in program history for MSU
- Jasmine Lee has won nine ranked singles and eight ranked doubles matches this season
- For Lee's career, she has 39 ranked singles wins and 12 ranked doubles wins
- Lee has won her last six matches in singles play
- In doubles play, Lee has won three out of the last four doubles matches against ranked foes
- The senior has built a 68-25 career singles record in only three seasons at MSU
- Freshman Sara Lizariturry is 8-1 in singles play this season at home
- Lizariturry has clinched three matches for MSU this season
- All three clinchers have come in SEC matches
Social Media
For more information on the Mississippi State men's tennis program, follow "HailStateMT" on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
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