MSU Women's Tennis Returns To The Courts To Face Troy
The Lady Bulldog netters opened the 2006 campaign with a hard fought 4-3 loss against Houston on Thursday in the McCarthy Gymnasium. The UH match came down to the final doubles match at the No. 2 spot. The tandem of Kami Miller and Yolandi Terblanche outlasted MSU's duo of Martina Banikova and Elna de Villiers 8-6 to clinch the match. MSU's wins came from the top three singles positions, with Anastasia Kugakolova, Renee Joseph and Banikova earning victories.
The Saturday match will mark Troy's season-opener. TU is coming off a 6-10 season from a year ago. Head coach Eric Haynes is in his third season leading the Trojan women's tennis program.
MSU owns a 2-0 record versus the Trojans of Troy University. Last season, State swept TU 7-0 in Starkville. The win marked the 70th win by head coach Tracy Lane at MState, which broke the MSU women's tennis career coaching wins record which was previously held by Andy Jackson with 69.
The Maroon and White and Troy recently tangled at the Georgia Invitational on Jan. 20 in Athens, Ga. There was no team score kept, but TU players took five of the six singles matches from State's competitors.
After this weekend's slate, head coach Tracy Lane's squad will travel to the state of Texas for two matches on Friday, Feb. 10 and Sunday, Feb. 12. MSU will face Rice at 3 p.m. in Houston, Texas and close out the trip with a meeting with the Mustangs of SMU on Sunday at 10:30 a.m.