MSU Netmen Fall To No. 5 Mississippi To End Regular Season
With the loss, State dropped to 8-11 overall and concluded the Southeastern Conference slate with a 4-7 league mark. UM improved to 17-3, 9-2. The win was the Rebels' 11th straight over the Bulldogs.
State was without the services of both senior Jerome Le Belicard and junior Max Fomine due to injuries. Le Belicard was suffering from a knee ailment while Fomine had a bothersome wrist.
Mississippi gained the opening point of the day by posting victories at the No. 1 and 3 doubles positions. State salvaged a 9-7 victory at No. 2.
In singles, things would be just as tough for the Bulldogs, as the Rebels claimed the first set in all six matches and would ride all of those leads on to victories.
The Rebels took a 3-0 lead in the contest with identical 6-2, 6-2 wins at the No. 3 and 6 spots. At No. 6, Rebel Karim Alayli downed State's Michael Hailey. At No. 3, it was UM's 27th-ranked Paul Ciorascu over Bulldog Florent Girod.
Clinching the match for Mississippi would be Patrick Chucri, who held off Bulldog Matt Armstrong 7-5, 6-4 at the No. 5 position. The Rebels would then claim the last three contests out.
On court 4, UM's Claes Lindholm edged Bulldog rookie Luc Maasdorp 6-4, 7-6(3). At No. 1, Mississippi's ninth-ranked Alex Hartman downed State's 17th-ranked Romain Ambert 6-2, 7-5. In the final match of the day, UM's 24th-ranked Catalin Gard was a 7-5, 7-6(3) winner over State's 116th-ranked Rene-Charles Combette at No. 2.
"This was a tough one for us," MSU head coach Sylvain Guichard said. "We were already underdogs, but with two of our top four out, it made for a difficult hill to climb. But the guys did a good job of fighting and competing and giving us a chance, and we did have some chances in singles. We knew this would be a tough match and we just have to put it behind us and focus on the SEC tournament."
The 2003 SEC Championship will be held this coming weekend, April 17-20, in Oxford. State will open play in the tournament Thursday. The Bulldogs' playing time, seeding and opponent for that day will be determined after all SEC play has been completed this weekend.
#5 MISSISSIPPI 7, #40 MISSISSIPPI STATE 0
DOUBLES -- #11 Alex Hartman/Claes Lindholm (UM) def. Florent Girod/Michael Hailey (MSU) 8-3; Romain Ambert/Rene-Charles Combette (MSU) def. Paul Ciorascu/Catalin Gard (UM) 9-7; Karim Alayli/Patrick Chucri (UM) def. Matt Armstrong/Luc Maasdorp (MSU) 8-3.
SINGLES -- #9 Hartman (UM) def. #17 Ambert (MSU) 6-2, 7-5; #24 Gard (UM) def. #116 Combette (MSU) 7-5, 7-6(3); #27 Ciorascu (UM) def. Girod (MSU) 6-2, 6-2; Lindholm (UM) def. Maasdorp (MSU) 6-4, 7-6(3); Chucri (UM) def. Armstrong (MSU) 7-5, 6-4; Alayli (UM) def. Hailey (MSU) 6-2, 6-2.
numbers preceding names indicate current national rankings