Lady Bulldog Tennis Falls To No. 19 Tulsa
STARKVILLE, Miss. - Mississippi State Lady Bulldog tennis (3-3) fell 6-1 in a tough battle to the No. 19 ranked Golden Hurricanes of the University of Tulsa (7-1) Saturday.
Tulsa took an early 1-0 lead over the Lady Bulldogs by clinching the doubles point with victories on all three courts. Bonny Davidson and Samantha Vickers were the first to notch a doubles victory for the Golden Hurricanes, defeating Olesya Tsigvintseva and Naomi Tran 8-2 at the No. 2 position. Anastasia Erofeeva and Ewa Szatkowska followed suit with an 8-4 victory against Khrystyna Pavlyuk and Alexandra Perper on court one. On court three, Roseline Dion and Ekaterina Iakolveva gave a valiant effort to come back and force a tiebreaker, but were ultimately unable to hold off Isaura Enrique and Michelle Farley, falling to the duo 8-7(4).
Tulsa claimed five first sets in singles to set up the win. The Golden Hurricanes were able to secure a quick win on court five as Tulsa's Farley took down Pavlyuk of the Lady Bulldogs 6-1, 6-2. Another Tulsa victory was posted on court one as #71 ranked Erofeeva defeated Iakovleva 6-1, 6-3.
On court three, Tsigvintseva fell 7-5 in the first set against Saztkowska of UT. Tsigvintseva gave a great effort in the second set, quickly going ahead of Saztkowska 3-0 before losing grip of the set and falling 6-3, securing the Tulsa victory.
Alexandra Perper posted the Lady Bulldogs' only victory in the match. Perper rose to 6-0 in singles play this spring following an impressive 6-3, 7-5 upset victory against #68 Samantha Vickers at the No. 2 position.
At the No. 6 spot, Ferancova fell 6-1 in the first set, but battled back to hold a 3-0 lead in the second set. However, Ferancova was unable to secure a victory in the set falling in a tight second set 7-5 to Tulsa's Bonny Davidson.
Tran was the final Bulldog to complete play, going into three sets against Isaura Enrique at the No. 4 position. In the end, Tran could not execute the win and Enrique took the victory 6-3, 4-6, 6-2.
Head coach Daryl Greenan hopes that the experience gained in today's match will serve the Bulldogs as they continue through the rest of their spring campaign.
"Today was our first of several matches we will play against top 25 teams. We had our opportunities but didn't capitalize. I hope we do a better job next time after our experience today," Greenan said.
Mississippi State will be back in action Sunday as the Lady Bulldogs take on in-state rival Southern Miss. The match is set to begin at 12 p.m. The match, along with all Lady Bulldog competition, can be followed via twitter at @mstateWT or through live stats found on http://www.hailstate.com/.
# 19 TULSA 6, MISSISSIPPI STATE 1 February 25, 2012 - Starkville, Miss.
DOUBLES -
1) Anastasia Erofeeva/Ewa Szatkowska (UT) def. Khrystyna Pavlyuk/Alexandra Perper (MSU) 8-4
2) Bonny Davidson/Samantha Vickers (UT) def. Olesya Tsigvintseva/Naomi Tran (MSU) 8-2
3) Isaura Enrique/Michelle Farley (UT) def. Roseline Dion/Ekaterina Iakovleva (MSU) 8-7(4)
SINGLES -
1) #71 Anastasia Erofeeva (UT) def. Ekaterina Iakovleva (MSU) 6-1, 6-3
2) Alexandra Perper (MSU) def. #68 Samantha Vickers (UT) 6-3, 7-5
3) Ewa Szatkowska (UT) def. Olesya Tsigvintseva (MSU) 7-5, 3-6
4) Isaura Enrique (UT) def. Naomi Tran (MSU) 6-3, 4-6, 6-2
5) Michelle Farley (UT) def. Khrystyna Pavlyuk (MSU) 6-1, 6-2
6) Bonny Davidson (UT) def. Petra Ferancova (MSU) 6-1, 7-5
Order of finish: Doubles (2,1,3), Singles (5,1,3,2,6,4)