No. 21 Bulldogs Battle Back To Defeat South Alabama 4-2
STARKVILLE, Miss. - Mississippi State battled back from a 2-1 deficit to defeat #64 South Alabama 4-2 in frigid weather conditions on Friday afternoon at the A.J. Pitts Tennis Centre. Singles matches were played first due to threatening weather conditions in the area. After the match was clinched, doubles play was not played.
The Bulldogs jumped on the board first at the #3 position when sophomore Philippe Frayssinoux topped South Alabama's Dias Doskareyev 6-4, 6-0. The Jaguars didn't waist any time taking over the lead. South Alabama's Mark Gellard took out State's Ryan Farlow 6-1, 6-2 at the #6 position to even the match 1-1. Jaguar Monte Tucker followed with a 6-4, 6-4 win at the #2 spot over Bulldog senior Jose-Carlos Pinto giving USA the 2-1 advantage.
After MSU senior Florent Girod won the first set 6-3 at the #5 position, USA's Robert Hodel fought back and won the second set 6-3, forcing a third set. Girod gained control of the set early by breaking Hodel's serve in the first game and held on to win the set 6-2 evening the team score at 2-2.
While the score was even, the Bulldogs lost the first set in both remaining matches. At #4, Bulldog Pierre Mouillon lost the first set 6-2 to USA's Marek Sramek and at #1, MSU's Ivan Bjelica fell 6-4 to South Alabama's Jack Baker. The Bulldogs fate looked dim in both matches until momentum switched in the second set of both matches. Mouillon fought back to evened his match, winning the second set 6-4 and held on in the third 6-3 to give State a 3-2 lead in the match. The attention then switched to the #1 position. Bjelica evened his match with a second set tiebreaker win. With the match in the balances, Bjelica proved too much for Baker, taking the third set 7-5 to clinch the win for the Bulldogs.
With the win, State improved to 2-1 on the season while South Alabama fell to 5-1. State now leads the overall series with South Alabama 11-6 and have won three in a row over the Jaguars.
"I am proud with the effort from our guys today," said MSU head coach Sylvain Guichard. "South Alabama is a dangerous team and are better than their ranking indicates. We battled hard, showed some toughness and were able to come back and get the win."
State will not be back in action until March 3 when the Bulldogs open Southeastern Conference play on the road at #10 South Carolina. State will then battle top-ranked Florida on March 5 in Gainesville, Fla.
#21 MISSISSIPPI STATE 4, #64 SOUTH ALABAMA 2
SINGLES - #74 Ivan Bjelica (MSU) def. Jack Baker (USA) 4-6, 7-6(3), 7-5; Monte Tucker (USA) def. Jose-Carlos Pinto (MSU) 6-4, 6-4; Philippe Frayssinoux (MSU) def. Dias Doskareyev (USA) 6-4, 6-0; Pierre Mouillon (MSU) def. Marek Sramek (USA) 2-6, 6-4, 6-3; Florent Girod (MSU) def. Robert Hodel (USA) 6-3, 3-6, 6-2; Mark Gellard (USA) def. Ryan Farlow (MSU) 6-1, 6-2
(numbers preceding names are current national rankings)