No. 18 MSU Falls In 4-1 Battle To No. 39 Northwestern In NCAAs

Saturday, May 13

Atlanta, Ga.

10:00 AM

Mississippi State

Northwestern

Sara Lizariturry provided MSU's lone point on Saturday.

No. 18 MSU Falls In 4-1 Battle To No. 39 Northwestern In NCAAs

May 13, 2017 | Women's Tennis

ATLANTA, Ga. – The 18th-ranked and Mississippi State women's tennis team (15-9) fell in a tough 4-1 battle to 39th-ranked Northwestern (15-11) in the opening round of the 2017 NCAA Tennis Championship Saturday at Georgia Tech's Ken Byers Tennis Complex.

Northwestern came out strong in doubles to take the early 1-0 lead. On court 3, NU's Rheeya Doshi and Jillian Rooney ousted MSU's Jennifer Brown and Khrystyna Vozniak 6-2. To clinch the doubles point, the Wildcat tandem of Erin Larner and Lee Or downed State's Madison Harrison and Sara Lizariturry 6-4 at the No. 2 position. The remaining match was suspended with the 15th-ranked Wildcat pair of Alex Chatt and Maddie Lipp leading the second-ranked Bulldog pair of Jasmine Lee and Lisa Marie Rioux 5-3 at No. 1.

With two players battling ankle injuries sustained recently in practice - one that sidelined the senior All-American Lee in singles Saturday and another that hampered sophomore Anastasia Rentouli - State still put up a strong effort in singles.

On court 1, No. 82 Wildcat Larner retired the State rookie Rioux 6-0, 6-1 to extend NU's lead to 2-0. Following on court 2, Northwestern's Lipp held off MSU's No. 113 Harrison in a close second set tiebreaker to go on for a 6-0, 7-6(4) win to extend the Wildcat lead to 3-0.

MSU would get its lone point of the day when the true freshman Lizariturry retired NU's Chatt in straight sets 7-5, 6-3 at the No. 5 position. However, the excitement would be short lived as the Wildcats' Or fought back to defeat State's Vozniak 2-6, 6-1, 6-3, clinching the 4-1 victory for NU.

The remaining two matches were suspended with the Maroon & White's Rentouli tied in the third set 6-3, 4-6, 1-1 on court 3 and State's Brown trailing in a close contest - 7-5, 4-3 on court 6.

"We faced a lot of adversity with recent injuries and we were not able to overcome the loss of our top player," head coach Daryl Greenan said. "Credit to a quality Northwestern team who were just too tough for us to overcome today. We are all disappointed we were not able to put in our best showing but I am proud of the season we have had."

Up Next
The Bulldogs will conclude the 2017 women's tennis campaign May 24-29 in Athens, Ga., where it will be represented by No. 7 Jasmine Lee and the No. 2-ranked doubles duo of Lee and Lisa Marie Rioux in the NCAA Individual Championships.

Additional Notes

This was MSU's third-straight appearance in the NCAA Championship, the seventh all-time
MSU is now 5-2 all-time in the first round of the NCAAs
Northwestern now leads the all-time series 2-0
Today was the first meeting between the teams since 1990
Both affairs have come at neutral sites
Freshman Sara Lizariturry finished her year 20-11 overall in singles

Social Media
For more information on the Mississippi State women's tennis program, follow "HailStateWT" on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

No. 39 Northwestern 4, No. 18 Mississippi State 1
2017 NCAA Women's Tennis Championship, First Round
May 13, 2017 – Ken Byers Tennis Complex – Atlanta, Ga.

Doubles
Order of match finish…3,2
1. No. 15 Alex Chatt/Maddie Lipp (NU) vs. No. 2 Jasmine Lee/Lisa Marie Rioux (MSU) 5-3 (susp.)
2. Erin Larner/Lee Or (NU) def. Madison Harrison/Sara Lizariturry (MSU) 6-4
3. Rheeya Doshi/Jillian Rooney (NU) def. Jennifer Brown/Khrysyna Vozniak (MSU) 6-2

Singles
Order of match finish…1,2,5,4
1. No. 82 Erin Larner (NU) def. Lisa Marie Rioux (MSU) 6-0, 6-1
2. Maddie Lipp (NU) def. No. 113 Madison Harrison (MSU) 6-0, 7-6 (4)
3. Rheeya Doshi (NU) vs. Anastasia Rentouli (MSU) 6-3, 4-6, 1-1 (susp.)
4. Lee Or (NU) def. Khrystyna Vozniak (MSU) 2-6, 6-1, 6-3
5. Sara Lizariturry (MSU) def. Alex Chatt (NU) 7-5, 6-3
6. Jillian Rooney (NU) vs. Jennifer Brown (MSU) 7-5, 4-3 (susp.)