State Netmen Fall In Close 4-3 Decision To Vanderbilt
NASVHILLE, Tenn. - Mississippi State dropped a 4-3 decision for thesecond time in three days, this time falling to Vanderbilt Sunday at theCurrey Tennis Center in Nashville. With the loss, the Bulldogs dropped to4-8 overall this season and 1-5 in the Southeastern Conference.
Vanderbilt won all three doubles matches to take a 1-0 advantage in thematch. At the #1 position, VU's 32nd-ranked Evan Dufaux and Andy Mackdefeated MSU's Ivan Bjelica and Jose-Carlos Pinto by a score of 8-6. At the#2 spot, the Commodore duo of Ryan Preston and Nathan Sachs knocked ofState's Florent Girod and Pierre Mouillon 8-2. On the #3 court, Vandy's NickCromydas and Jordan Magarik defeated MSU's Ryan Farlow and PhilippeFrayssinoux 8-5, giving the Commodores the doubles point.
Vanderbilt extended their lead to 2-0 when Sachs overcame Frayssinoux atthe #4 position 6-4, 6-2. The Bulldogs closed the gap to 2-1 with a victoryon the #5 court, where Girod knocked off VU's Cromydas 6-3, 6-2. MSU'sBjelica evened the match at 2-2 when he rallied to win the final two setsand defeat VU's Dufaux 4-6, 6-2, 6-3. Vanderbilt took a brief 3-2 lead whenthe Commodore's 68th-ranked Preston rallied to win the final two setsagainst the Bulldog's Mouillon, taking a 4-6, 7-6(6), 6-3 victory. It didn'ttake long for State to tie the match at 3-3 as MSU freshman Farlow defeatedVU's Magarik 7-5, 7-6 to notch his second career dual match victory. Thedecisive point came at the #3 court where State's Pinto and Vanderbilt'sMack split the first two sets. After falling in the first set 6-3, Mack wonthe second set 6-2 and prevailed in the third 6-3, rallying to give theCommodores the fourth point and the team win.
With the win, Vanderbilt moved to 6-8 overall and 1-5 in SEC play. Statenow leads Vanderbilt 31-8 in the all-time series between the two programs.Bjelica notched his second consecutive win on Sunday and evened his recordin conference play to 3-3.
The Bulldogs next action will be on March 31, as State returns homehosting 16th-ranked Arkansas at 2 p.m. at the A.J. Pitts Tennis Centre onthe MSU campus.
Doubles
#32 Dufaux/Mack (VU) def. Bjelica/Pinto (MSU) 8-6
Preston/Sachs (VU) def. Girod/Mouillon (MSU) 8-2
Cromydas/Magarik (VU) def. Farlow/Frayssinoux (MSU) 8-5
Singles
#68 Ryan Preston (VU) def. Pierre Mouillon (MSU) 4-6, 7-6(6), 6-3
Ivan Bjelica (MSU) def. Evan Dufaux (VU) 4-6, 6-2, 6-3
Andy Mack (VU) def. Jose-Carlos Pinto (MSU) 3-6, 6-2, 6-3
Nathan Sachs (VU) def. Philippe Frayssinoux (MSU) 6-4, 6-2
Florent Girod (MSU) def. Nick Cromydas (VU) 6-3, 6-2
Ryan Farlow (MSU) def. Jordan Magarik (VU) 7-5, 7-6