Bulldogs' Run Ends In SEC Semis With 4-0 Setback To Top-Ranked Georgia
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - The Mississippi State men's tennis team's run through the SEC Championship was halted Saturday in the semifinals, dropping a 4-0 decision to top-ranked Georgia. State reached the semifinals with a 4-2 win over fifth-seeded LSU in the first round and a 4-2 win over fourth-seeded Kentucky on Friday.
State and Georgia battled for nearly an hour and a half before the doubles point was decided. The first completed was on court #3 where UGA's 16th-ranked tandem of Strahinja Bobusic and Colin Purcell won 8-1 over State's Florent Girod and Josh Irey. On court #2, State's duo of Philippe Frayssinoux and Pierre Mouillon outlasted Georgia's 39th-ranked pair of Luis Flores and Matic Omerzel 9-7 to make court #1 the decisive match. On that court, Bulldogs Ivan Bjelica and Jose-Carlos Pinto battled defending national doubles champions and the fourth-ranked tandem of John Isner and Antonio Ruiz to a tiebreaker. In the tiebreaker, Georgia edged out the win 8-6 and took a 1-0 advantage and the momentum into singles play.
Georgia (24-0) won the opening set on four of the six courts. UGA gained a 2-0 advantage when 20th-ranked Flores knocked off State's Mouillon 6-1, 6-3 on court #2. The next match completed was on court #1 where UGA's second-ranked Isner downed MSU's 80th-ranked Bjelica 6-2, 6-1 to give UGA a 3-0 lead. Seconds later, UGA's Colin Purcell defeated MSU's Girod 6-2, 6-3 for the clinching point. Play was then suspended on the three remaining courts after the match was clinched.
With its two wins in the SEC Championship, State will now await the NCAA Regional selections which will be announced the week of May 1. State is hoping for its 16th-consecutive NCAA Championship berth.
#1 GEORGIA 4, #62 MSU 0
4/22/06
SEC CHAMPIONSHIP-TUSCALOOSA, Ala.
Doubles -#4 Isner/Ruiz (UGA) def. Bjelica/Pinto (MSU) 9-8(6); Frayssinoux/Mouillon (MSU) def. #39 Flores/Omerzel (UGA) 9-7; #16 Bobusic/Purcell (UGA) def. Girod/Irey (MSU) 8-1.
Singles -#2 John Isner (UGA) def. #80 Ivan Bjelica (MSU) 6-2, 6-1; #20 Luis Flores (UGA) def. Pierre Mouillon (MSU) 6-1, 6-3; Jose-Carlos Pinto (MSU) vs. Antonio Ruiz (UGA) 6-6, susp.; Philippe Frayssinoux (MSU) vs. #95 Matic Omerzel (UGA) 6-4, 2-2, susp.; Colin Purcell (UGA) def. Florent Girod (MSU) 6-2, 6-3; #59 Strahinja Bobusic (UGA) vs. Eric Lim (MSU) 6-1, 5-5, susp.