Bulldog Netmen Drop 4-3 Heartbreaker to #13 Mississippi
The Rebels took an early 1-0 lead in the match, winning all three doublesmatches. The first completed was on court #3 where Rebels Jakob Klaeson andRobbye Poole won 8-1 over MSU's Ryan Farlow and Josh Irey. Mississippi clinchedthe point at the #1 position, where the eighth-ranked tandem of Erling Tveitand Eric Claesson defeated State's pair of Ivan Bjelica and Pierre Mouillon8-4. UM's Juan Pablo Di Cesare and Bram ten Berge concluded doubles play withan 8-3 win over State's Florent Girod and Jose-Carlos Pinto.
UM waisted no time in extending their lead during the initial stages of singlesplay. The Rebels took a 2-0 lead when UM's ten Berge defeated State's Girod6-2, 6-0 on court #4. UM extended its lead to 3-0 when Poole defeated MSUfreshman Eric Lim 6-2, 6-4 at the #6 position.
Just when the match looked all but over, State began to turn the momentumaround and make a furious comeback. State's 81st-ranked Bjelica defeated27th-ranked Claesson 6-4, 6-1 on court #2 to close the gap to 3-1. Momentslater, MSU's Philippe Frayssinoux closed out UM's Klaeson 6-4, 6-3 on court #5to bring the score to 3-2.
The attention then turned to courts #1 and #3 where the match would be decided.
On court #1, State's 97th-ranked Mouillon battled UM's 17th-ranked Tveit tothree sets. After dropping the first set 6-2, Mouillon sent the match to athird set with a second set tiebreak win. In the third set, Mouillon looked tobe in control, taking a 5-2 lead. However, Tveit fought off several matchpoints and battled back to defeat Mouillon in a third set tiebreaker to clinchthe match for the Rebels. After the match was clinched, States Pinto upendedUM's 69th-ranked Di Cesare 7-6, 4-6, 6-4 to give State its third point.
There is no doubt that this has been a tough year for us, said MSU head coachSylvain Guichard. However we showed today that we will continue to fight tothe end of every match. We battled one of the top teams in the country to thebitter end on their home court and had a good chance to win the match.
The Rebels moved to 18-4 overall and 8-3 in the SEC with the win. UM avoidedlosing its second straight home match with the win. Before last week's loss totop-ranked Georgia, Mississippi had won 31 consecutive home match. State'sBjelica notched his second win this spring over a top-30 opponent.
State will now travel to Tuscaloosa, Ala. for the SEC Championship beginning onThursday.
UM 4, MSU 3
4/15/06
Oxford, Mississippi
Doubles - #8 Claesson/Tveit (UM) def. Bjelica/Mouillon (MSU) 8-4; Di Cesare/tenBerge (UM) def. Girod/Pinto (MSU) 8-3; Klaeson/Poole (UM) def. Farlow/Irey(MSU) 8-1.
Singles - #17 Erling Tveit (UM) def. #97 Pierre Mouillon (MSU) 6-2, 6-7(5),7-6(7); #81 Ivan Bjelica (MSU) def. #27 Eric Claesson (UM) 6-4, 6-1;Jose-Carlos Pinto (MSU) def. #69 Juan Pablo Di Cesare (UM) 7-6, 4-6, 6-4; Bramten Berge (UM) def. Florent Girod (MSU) 6-2, 6-0; Philippe Frayssinoux (MSU)def. Jakob Klaeson (UM) 6-4, 6-3; Robbye Poole (UM) def. Eric Lim (MSU) 6-2,6-4.