Mississippi State
Tulane
State Splits Doubleheader In NOLA
February 23, 2024 | Women's Tennis
NEW ORLEANS – Mississippi State women's tennis split its Friday doubleheader down in the Crescent City.
The Bulldogs were blanked by Tulane 4-0 to start the afternoon but were able to bounce back and beat New Orleans 4-1 in the nightcap and will enter Southeastern Conference play with a solid 9-3 record.
"It was a sad performance from us all in the first match against Tulane," said head coach Chris Hooshyar. "But we have to look at every day as a learning experience. It's all about building the program and building the identity that we want to have for the future. We're all in this together – coaches and players. Losses can turn into positives if we move on from today and learn from it for the future."
In the early match against the Green Wave, MSU dropped an extremely competitive doubles point. Chloé Cirotte and Athina Pitta evened things up at one win apiece after they conquered Charlotte Russell and Delanie Tribby 7-5 leaving the deciding point down to Court 2.
Jayna Clemens and Dharani Niroshan battled Cora Barber and Mackenzie Clark into a tiebreaker but came up short to the Tulane duo, 7-6(4).
The Green Wave went on to take the first three singles decisions and improved to 6-3 on the year.
State then made the five-mile drive from the City Park Tennis Center to the University of New Orleans campus for its second match at the Privateer Tennis Center later that evening. The Bulldogs once again dropped the doubles point but were able to rally with four-straight singles wins to secure the match and their first road win of the year.
"We had about a 45-minute break when we drove over to UNO because we want to play as many matches as possible to get match-tough," Hooshyar said. "There were a lot of excuses that could've been made with people feeling sorry for themselves. But we took a long look at ourselves because what happened against Tulane was unacceptable. We came out and lost the doubles point to UNO but in singles, we showed character. I'm proud of them for the way they finished the day."
Cirotte and Pitta once again prevailed in doubles over the New Orleans tandem of Audelia Kougoucheff and Kate Kalistratova 6-3. Mississippi State, however, would go on to lose two heartbreakers as Clemens and Niroshan fell to Laurie Barendse and Ksenia Reznitskaya 7-5 and Alexandra Mikhailuk and Maria Rizzolo dropped a 7-6(5) tiebreaker to Tristanne Dechoux and Ana Kouchnareva to clinch the point for the now 0-2 Privateers.
Hooshyar's Bulldogs got back on track when the match turned over to singles. Cirotte claimed a dominant straight-set victory over Dechoux 6-1, 6-2. Niroshan also made short work of Reznitskaya 6-1, 6-3 while Mikhailuk pushed past Kouchnareva 6-0, 6-4 and is now one win shy of cracking the school's top 10 list for career singles victories.
Clemens clinched her second match of the season with her 6-2, 6-2 triumph against Kougoucheff.
MSU opens conference play next Saturday against Ole Miss in Oxford at 1 p.m.
Tulane 4, Mississippi State 0City Park Tennis Center | New Orleans, La.
Feb. 23, 2024
Doubles
1. Kristen Borland/Lahari Yelamanchili (TUL) def. Alexandra Mikhailuk/Maria Rizzolo (MSU) 6-1
2. Cora Barber/Mackenzie Clark (TUL) def. Jayna Clemens/Dharani Niroshan (MSU) 7-6(4)
3. Chloé Cirotte/Athina Pitta (MSU) def. Charlotte Russell/Delanie Tribby (TUL) 7-5
Order of finish: (1,3,2)
Singles
Lahari Yelamanchili (TUL) vs. Maria Rizzolo (MSU) 6-3, 6-6 unfinished
Mackenzie Clark (TUL) vs. Alexandra Mikhailuk (MSU) 6-4, 2-6, 1-2 unfinished
Kristen Borland (TUL) def. Chloé Cirotte (MSU) 6-2, 6-4
Cora Barber (TUL) def. Athina Pitta (MSU) 6-2, 7-6(2)
Charlotte Russell (TUL) def. Dharani Niroshan (MSU) 6-2, 4-6, 6-1
Brooke Theis (TUL) vs. Jayna Clemens (MSU) 6-7(5), 3-2 unfinished
Order of finish: (3,4,5)
Mississippi State 4, New Orleans 1
Privateer Tennis Center | New Orleans, La.
Feb. 23, 2024
Doubles
1. Tristanne Dechoux/Ana Kouchnareva (UNO) def. Alexandra Mikhailuk/Maria Rizzolo (MSU) 7-6(5)
2. Laurie Barendse/Ksenia Reznitskaya (UNO) def. Jayna Clemens/Dharani Niroshan (MSU) 7-5
3. Chloé Cirotte/Athina Pitta (MSU) def. Audelia Kougoucheff/Kate Kalistratova (UNO) 6-3
Order of finish: (3,2,1)
Singles
1. Laurie Barendse (UNO) vs. Maria Rizzolo (MSU) 7-5, 2-4, unfinished
2. Alexandra Mikhailuk (MSU) def. Ana Kouchnareva (UNO) 6-0, 6-4
3. Athina Pitta (MSU) vs. Kate Kalistratova (UNO) 7-6(4), 2-3, unfinished
4. Chloé Cirotte (MSU) def. Tristanne Dechoux (UNO) 6-1, 6-2
5. Dharani Niroshan (MSU) def. Ksenia Reznitskaya (UNO) 6-1, 6-3
6. Jayna Clemens (MSU) def. Audelia Kougoucheff (UNO) 6-2, 6-2
Order of finish: (4,5,2,6)
For more information on the Bulldog women's tennis program, visit HailState.com or search for "HailStateWT" on X, Instagram and Facebook.
Players Mentioned
