MSU Netters Fall To #6 Mississippi In Oxford
The setback was State's seventh in a row, dropping the Bulldogs to 7-10 overall, 2-7 in Southeastern Conference action. The Rebels improved to 17-3, 8-2, while securing at least a share of the 2004 SEC title.
Play was suspended late in doubles action for nearly an hour, as rain storms moved into the Oxford area. UM's team of Eric Claesson and Juan Pablo Di Cesare and had already notched an 8-4 win over Bulldogs Max Fomine and Florent Girod at the No. 2 position before the match was moved indoors to the three-court Gillom Sports Center. Courts 1 and 3, however, were both very close at that point.
But the Rebels would ultimately secure both. At No. 3, Rebels Fredrik Aarum and Claes Lindholm edged MSU's duo of Matt Armstrong and Romain Provenzano8-6. UM's seventh-ranked team of Paul Ciorascu and Catalin Gard took a 9-8(0) tiebreak win at the top spot over MSU's tandem of Luiz Carvalho and Jose-Carlos Pinto.
Mississippi would claim wins in the first three singles matches, although State, without two-time, all-American senior Romain Ambert once again, wouldchallenge the favored Rebels in each contest. Ambert missed singles play for the fifth time in State's last seven outings, still fighting a bothersome ankle ailment.
UM grabbed a 2-0 lead when Gard, ranked fourth nationally, held off MSU's Pinto 6-3, 6-4 to improve to 17-3 at the No. 1 position this year. The Rebels went up 3-0 with a three-set victory from the 26th-ranked Lindholm, who bested State's Fomine 6-2, 3-6, 6-1 at No. 3 to up his dual match record to 17-2 for 2004. The match clincher came at No. 2, where the 86th-ranked Ciorascu rallied to post a 6-7(3), 7-6(6), 6-1 triumph over MSU's Carvalho. The Rebels would then post wins at the bottom three spots in the lineup after the match had been clinched.
"I know the team score doesn't show it, but I felt like we played very well today. I said at the beginning of the year that Mississippi was one of the best teams in the country and they are," MSU head coach Sylvain Guichard said. "We had some chances in those three early matches after we went indoors and, if we had gotten a couple of those points, it would have been interesting to see what would have happened on courts 4, 5 and 6. I was very happy with our team's effort today. We had some positive things happen and we just need to work on carrying those over into next week."
State will close out the 2004 regular season next weekend with two more SEC road contests. The Bulldogs will meet 17th-ranked Kentucky in Lexington this Friday, April 16, and then take on 22nd-ranked Vanderbilt in Nashville next Sunday, April 18. MSU will then compete in the 2004 SEC Championship, which will also be held in the Music City, April 22-25.
#6 MISSISSIPPI 7, #32 MISSISSIPPI STATE 0
DOUBLES - #7 Paul Ciorascu/Catalin Gard (UM) def. Luiz Carvalho/Jose-Carlos Pinto (MSU) 9-8(0); Eric Claesson/Juan Pablo Di Cesare (UM) def. Max Fomine/Florent Girod (MSU) 8-4; Fredrik Aarum/Claes Lindholm (UM) def. Matt Armstrong/Romain Provenzano (MSU) 8-6.
SINGLES - #4 Gard (UM) def. Pinto (MSU) 6-3, 6-4; #86 Ciorascu (UM) def. Carvalho (MSU) 6-7(3), 7-6(6), 6-1; #26 Lindholm (UM) def. Fomine (MSU) 6-2, 3-6, 6-1; Aarum (UM) def. Girod (MSU) 6-4, 3-6, 1-0(0); Di Cesare (UM) def. Romain Provenzano (MSU) 6-4, 6-1; Claesson (UM) def. Arnaud Roussel (MSU) 6-4, 6-0.
(numbers preceding names are current national rankings)