Bulldog Netters Fall At #13 Florida
GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- Mississippi State's 31st-ranked men's tennis team dropped a 6-1 decision to 13th-ranked Florida on the road Friday evening. The loss dropped MSU to 7-8 overall, 2-5 in Southeastern Conference play. UF improved to 11-6, 4-3. The setback was State's seventh to the Gators in the schools' last 10 meetings.
In doubles, State would win the first match complete, as Romain Ambert and Matt Armstrong, playing in their first-ever match together, secured an 8-5 win over UF's tandem of Martin Stiegwardt and Stefan Tell at the No. 3 position. But the Gators would claim 8-5 and 8-4 wins at the top two spots, respectively, to get the early 1-0 lead in the match.
Singles play brought a positive for MSU in the return of the senior all-American Ambert to the lineup from an ankle injury which has forced him to miss all singles play since March 13. But Ambert was obviously still feeling the effects of his ailment, as he dropped his contest with 17th-ranked Gator Hamid Mirzadeh 6-2, 6-1 at the top position.
UF had claimed the first set in four of the five remaining matches as well, and its control of the match was never really in doubt after that. The Gators would go up 3-0 when 100th-ranked Vladimir Obradovic bested MSU's Luiz Carvalho 6-3, 6-2 at the No. 3 spot. The match clinching victory would come from 39th-ranked Gator Janne Holmia at the No. 2 spot, where he downed Bulldog Jose-Carlos Pinto 6-1, 6-1.
Florida would take two of the final three matches as well. At the No. 4 spot, UF's Chris Brandi registered a 6-2, 7-6(8) victory over Bulldog Max Fomine. At No. 6, Gator Ryan Sherry edged MSU rookie Arnaud Roussel 6-4, 4-6, 1-0(8), winning a close third-set supertiebreaker. State's lone point would come at No. 5, where sophomore Florent Girod held off Jordan Dolberg 6-4, 0-6, 7-5 to up his team-leading SEC record to 5-2.
"Florida played well today. My hat is off to them for their effort," MSU head coach Sylvain Guichard said. "Doubles was very big because Florida really came out firing after getting that first point. We were glad to get Romain back on the court in singles. He certainly is not 100 percent, but no one is after missing that many matches. He just has to keep playing and fighting to get his rhythm back. Now we have to focus on another difficult match Sunday at South Carolina, a team that showed what it is capable of today."
The Bulldogs and 56th-ranked Gamecocks will meet Sunday in Columbia at 1 p.m. ET. USC upset third-ranked Mississippi 4-1 Friday afternoon. After Sunday's match, State will take on the arch-rival Rebels next Saturday, April 10, in Oxford at 1 p.m. CT.
#13 Florida 6, #31 Mississippi State 1
Doubles
1. Chris Brandi/Hamid Mirzadeh (UF) def. Luiz Carvalho/Jose-Carlos Pinto (MSU) 8-5
2. Janne Holmia/Vladimir Obradovic (UF) def. Florent Girod/Romain Provenzano (MSU) 8-4
3. Romain Ambert/Matt Armstrong (MSU) def. Martin Stiegwardt/Stefan Tell (UF) 8-5.
Singles
1. #17 Mirzadeh (UF) def. #22 Ambert (MSU) 6-2, 6-1
2. #39 Holmia (UF) def. Pinto (MSU) 6-1, 6-1 3. t#100 Obradovic (UF) def. Carvalho (MSU) 6-3, 6-2
4. Brandi (UF) def. Fomine (MSU) 6-2, 7-6(8)
5. Girod (MSU) def. Jordan Dolberg (UF) 6-4, 0-6, 7-5
6. Ryan Sherry (UF) def. Arnaud Roussel (MSU) 6-4, 4-6, 1-0(8).