Spring Break
Bulldog netters swept by Wildcats
Sean Armstrong
Issue date: 4/1/08 Section: Sports
Unlikely as it would seem during a weekend celebrating superhuman canines, cats triumphed over dogs in both of Mississippi State's matches against Kentucky on Friday afternoon.
Women
After a brief rain shower upset fans by delaying the match an hour, Mississippi State's lady netters could not manage an upset of their own as they lost 5-1 to the 23rd-ranked Wildcats Friday afternoon at the A.J. Tennis Centre.
Kentucky shot to an early lead as the 88th-ranked Sarah Woestmann and Alaina Trgovich grabbed respective straight set wins over MSU's Renee Joseph and DeAndra Saddler. All other matches lasted three sets, with State claiming three middle sets to extend the match and mount a small comeback.
"We had a lot of comebacks," head coach Tracy Lane said. "We didn't capitalize on them and ended up missing a lot of opportunities."
On court 1, State's Martina Banikova's first set lead ended in a 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 loss to Megan Broderick before Kentucky clinched the match with Christine Johnston's 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 win over Radka Ferancova on court 4.
The last two points were split between the two teams. On court 6, Valeriya Makarycheva fought back from a set down against Whitney Spencer to spare State's shutout blushes with a 6-7(9), 6-2, 7-5 victory. Elna de Villiers just failed to close out the day with a win, losing 7-6(3), 3-6, 7-5 after a grueling back-and-forth battle with UK's Carolina Escamilla.
"It was the first match this semester that I got a little tired in the end," de Villiers said. "I try to fight hard in every match, so it was a little disappointing to lose in this one."
Men
Mississippi State's 38th-ranked men's tennis squad failed to avenge the women's result, falling 4-3 to the Wildcats in Lexington, Ky.
The match began as close as it ended, with Kentucky just edging State to claim the doubles point.
State pair Ivan Bjelica and Philippe Frayssinoux lost 8-3 to Kentucky's Bruno Agostinelli and Brad Cox before Ryan Farlow and Pjotrs Necajevs leveled matters with an 8-2 win over UK's Will Beck and Shane Collins.
Women
After a brief rain shower upset fans by delaying the match an hour, Mississippi State's lady netters could not manage an upset of their own as they lost 5-1 to the 23rd-ranked Wildcats Friday afternoon at the A.J. Tennis Centre.
Kentucky shot to an early lead as the 88th-ranked Sarah Woestmann and Alaina Trgovich grabbed respective straight set wins over MSU's Renee Joseph and DeAndra Saddler. All other matches lasted three sets, with State claiming three middle sets to extend the match and mount a small comeback.
"We had a lot of comebacks," head coach Tracy Lane said. "We didn't capitalize on them and ended up missing a lot of opportunities."
On court 1, State's Martina Banikova's first set lead ended in a 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 loss to Megan Broderick before Kentucky clinched the match with Christine Johnston's 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 win over Radka Ferancova on court 4.
The last two points were split between the two teams. On court 6, Valeriya Makarycheva fought back from a set down against Whitney Spencer to spare State's shutout blushes with a 6-7(9), 6-2, 7-5 victory. Elna de Villiers just failed to close out the day with a win, losing 7-6(3), 3-6, 7-5 after a grueling back-and-forth battle with UK's Carolina Escamilla.
"It was the first match this semester that I got a little tired in the end," de Villiers said. "I try to fight hard in every match, so it was a little disappointing to lose in this one."
Men
Mississippi State's 38th-ranked men's tennis squad failed to avenge the women's result, falling 4-3 to the Wildcats in Lexington, Ky.
The match began as close as it ended, with Kentucky just edging State to claim the doubles point.
State pair Ivan Bjelica and Philippe Frayssinoux lost 8-3 to Kentucky's Bruno Agostinelli and Brad Cox before Ryan Farlow and Pjotrs Necajevs leveled matters with an 8-2 win over UK's Will Beck and Shane Collins.
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