No. 31 Bulldogs Come Very Close In SEC Tourney Loss To No. 15 Alabama
State dropped a 4-1 decision to the Crimson Tide in the match, but MSU was serving for the match in the final two contests when played was suspended after the overall outcome of the match had been decided. The Bulldogs fell to 8-12 overall. UA improved to 17-8.
MSU was already without the services of junior Max Fomine, who did not make the trip to Oxford due to a wrist ailment that also sidelined him last weekend. Despite his absence, the Bulldogs were able to secure the opening doubles point against Alabama with a huge fight.
After the Tide claimed an 8-3 win at the No. 3 position, State rallied to claim tiebreak wins at the top two spots. At No. 2, Bulldogs Florent Girod and Michael Hailey were down 8-7 and 40-15 before breaking back and claiming a 9-8(5) decision over 'Bama's duo of Max Belski and Brad Freidman. At No. 1, MSU's pair of Romain Ambert and Jerome Le Belicard overcame a 5-2 deficit to win 9-8(4) over Geoff Hiscox and Stephen Mitchell.
The senior Le Belicard, who did not play Saturday against Mississippi due to pain in his left knee, managed to play doubles Thursday, but was then pulled from the singles lineup after reaggravating the injury in doubles. Without Fomine and Le Belicard, State still nearly pulled the upset.
Alabama stormed out of the gate in singles, gaining a 3-1 lead with straight-set wins at the No. 3, 5 and 6 positions, but MSU was up a set at Nos. 1 and 4 and in a very close contest at No. 2. But the No. 2 match would be the deciding factor, as Mitchell, ranked 123rd nationally in singles, held off State's 116th-ranked Rene-Charles Combette 6-4, 6-4 to clinch the win for the Crimson Tide. Combette had downed Mitchell earlier in the year to secure the Bulldogs' 4-3 win over the Tide in Tuscaloosa.
After the team victory had been clinched, the final two matches of the day were suspended by tournament rule. State was serving to win in each of those contests. The junior all-American Ambert, ranked 17th, was leading Belski, ranked 80th, 6-2, 5-4 at the top spot while Bulldog rookie Luc Maasdorp was actually playing a match point against Hiscox, leading him at No. 4 6-3, 5-3.
"Considering our situation with the guys that could not play, I felt like our team did a fantastic job today against the No. 15 team in the country," MSU head coach Sylvain Guichard said. "Our backs were to the wall in every way and they gave us a good chance to win despite all of the adversity. I was very proud of our effort."
The Bulldogs now await their fate for the 2003 NCAA Team Championship. The 64-team draw for the national championship will be released on April 30 with first-round play beginning May 9. State looks to make the NCAA field for the 13th straight season. MSU is one of only seven teams in the country to have made the field in each of the last 12 years.
#15 ALABAMA 4, #31 MISSISSIPPI STATE 1
DOUBLES -- Romain Ambert/Jerome Le Belicard (MSU) def. Geoff Hiscox/Stephen Mitchell (UA) 9-8(4); Florent Girod/Michael Hailey (MSU) def. Max Belski/Brad Freidman (UA) 9-8(5); William Boyles/Chris Gostek (UA) def. Matt Armstrong/Rene-Charles Combette (MSU) 8-3.
SINGLES -- #17 Ambert (MSU) led #80 Belski (UA) 6-2, 5-4, suspended; #123 Mitchell (UA) def. #116 Combette (MSU) 6-4, 6-4; #105 Gostek (UA) def. Girod (MSU) 6-2, 6-1; Luc Maasdorp (MSU) led Hiscox (UA) 6-3, 5-3, suspended; Christian Brodersen (UA) def. Armstrong (MSU) 6-2, 6-0; Michael Ray Pallares (UA) def. Hailey (MSU) 6-1, 6-0.
numbers preceding names indicate current national rankings