South Carolina Wins Three Three-Setters To Defeat Bulldog Netmen 5-2
The setback, MSU's sixth in a row, dropped the Bulldogs to 7-9 overall, 2-6 in Southeastern Conference action. USC improved to 14-8, 3-5 in the league. The victory was the third in a row for the Gamecocks over the Bulldogs after USC had managed just one win in the previous 13 encounters between the schools.
In the final three matches Sunday, South Carolina had taken the first set in all three, but State rebounded to claim the second frame in each battle to set up a close finish. But the Gamecocks would come up strong in the third set on all courts to secure the team win.
On court No. 2, Gamecock Tom Eklund took a 6-1, 4-6, 6-0 win over Bulldog Jose-Carlos Pinto for a 3-2 USC lead. The match-clincher would come on court No. 4, where Geraldo Knorr won 7-6(7), 1-6, 6-1 over State's Max Fomine. In the final match of the day, Gamecock Tom Eklund notched a 6-3, 4-6, 5-1, ret. win over Bulldog Luiz Carvalho.
USC had grabbed the early lead in the match by sweeping doubles play to start the afternoon, notching 9-8, 8-2 and 8-0 triumphs at the three positions, respectively.
State then gained a 2-1 lead early in singles, taking straight-set wins at the bottom two spots in the lineup. Sophomore Florent Girod evened the score at 1-1 when he ousted USC's Ben Atkinson 6-3, 6-0 at No. 5, running his SEC record to a team-best, 6-2. Bulldog true freshman Arnaud Roussel then registered an impressive 6-2, 6-3 victory over Gamecock Pedro Rodrigues at No. 6.
South Carolina tied the score at 2-2 when Marcus Westman held off a late charge from MSU's 22nd-ranked Romain Ambert for a 6-3, 6-4 triumph at the top spot. The two-time, all-American Ambert was playing his second singles match in a return from the ankle ailment that forced him to miss four matches prior to the weekend.
"Well, we got off to a rough start today by playing poorly in doubles, but the guys really fought in singles to give us a chance to win this match," MSU head coach Sylvain Guichard said. "Unfortunately, we could not pull out those last three. And don't forget that South Carolina is not too bad. They did beat the nation's third-ranked team here Friday."
State will next meet that third-ranked squad, arch-rival Mississippi, this Saturday, April 10, in Oxford at 1 p.m. CT. After opening the season 16-1 overall and 7-0 in the SEC, UM dropped close matches at South Carolina and No. 13 Florida over the weekend.
#56 SOUTH CAROLINA 5, #31 MISSISSIPPI STATE 2
DOUBLES - Geraldo Knorr/Pedro Rodrigues (USC) def. Luiz Carvalho/Jose-Carlos Pinto (MSU) 9-8(4); Tom Eklund/Marcus Westman (USC) def. Florent Girod/Romain Provenzano (MSU) 8-2; Ben Atkinson/Carl Wermee (USC) def. Romain Ambert/Matt Armstrong (MSU) 8-0.
SINGLES - Westman (USC) def. #22 Ambert (MSU) 6-3, 6-4; Eklund (USC) def. Pinto (MSU) 6-1, 4-6, 6-0; Wermee (USC) def. Carvalho (MSU) 6-3, 4-6, 5-1, ret.; Knorr (USC) def. Fomine (MSU) 7-6(7), 1-6, 6-1; Girod (MSU) def. Atkinson (USC) 6-3, 6-0; Arnaud Roussel (MSU) def. Rodrigues (USC) 6-2, 6-3.
(numbers preceding names are current national rankings)