STARKVILLE, Miss. ? The 59th-ranked University of South Alabama women’s tennis team remained perfect on the spring Sunday afternoon with a 4-3 decision over No. 75 Mississippi State at the A.J. Pitts Tennis Centre.
USA (7-0) will next begin a five-match home swing on March 4 when the Jags host Memphis at the Bruce David Lubel Memorial Tennis Courts at 1 p.m. The loss for the Bulldogs is the first on the season, dropping MSU to 5-1 on the spring.
South Alabama for the seventh time this season came out and captured the doubles point to go up 1-0 in the match. Mississippi State’s team of Daniela Juskova/Valeriya Makarycheva went up early in the doubles portion of the match with an 8-4 victory over USA’s Jelena Krivacevic and Erica Krisan at No. 3, but the Jaguars bounced back to pick up the final two spots to take the point. Michaela Babicova/Katie Welch (USA) evened up things with an 8-5 win at No. 2 over the Bulldogs’ Radka Ferancova/Renee Joseph (MSU). Adrianna Solarova and Sylvanie Spangenberg then clinched the point with an 8-6 victory over Martina Banikova/Elna de Villiers (MSU) at the No. 1 position.
In singles action, MSU tied the contest up at 1-1 when Daniela Juskova captured a two set decision over USA’s Spangenberg (6-1, 6-4) at the fourth spot. Solarova came right back and put the Jaguars back on top 2-1 with a straight set decision of her own (7-6 (7-5), 6-1) over the Bulldogs’ Banikova at No. 1.
Mississippi State later took its first lead of the afternoon at 3-2 with a pair of straight set wins of its own at the Nos. 3 and 5 positions. Babicova knotted the match back up when the junior Jag rallied to pick a three set victory of her own. Babicova dropped the first set 6-1 to but recovered to win the final two sets, picking up a 6-2 victory in the second set and a 6-4 win in the final set over Joseph at No. 2.
Krivacevic then sealed the match victory for South Alabama when she outlasted Makarycheva at the sixth spot. Krivacevic won the first set 6-2, but then fell 7-5 in the second to send it to a third and final set. With the match tied 4-4 in the third set, Krivacevic picked up the final two game points to clinch the victory for USA.
02/24/08 at Starkville, Miss.
No. 59 University of South Alabama 4, No. 75 Mississippi State 3
Singles competition
1. Adrianna Solarova (USAW) def. Martina Banikova (MSU) 7-6 (7-5), 6-1
2. Michaela Babicova (USAW) def. Renee Joseph (MSU) 1-6, 6-2, 6-4
3. Radka Ferancova (MSU) def. Erica Krisan (USAW) 6-1, 6-2
4. Daniela Juskova (MSU) def. Sylvanie Spangenberg (USAW) 6-1, 6-4
5. Elna de Villiers (MSU) def. Katie Welch (USAW) 6-4, 6-4
6. Jelena Krivacevic (USAW) def. Valeriya Makarycheva (MSU) 6-2, 5-7, 6-4
Doubles competition
1. Adrianna Solarova/Sylvanie Spangenberg (USAW) def. Martina Banikova/Elna de Villiers (MSU) 8-6
2. Michaela Babicova/Katie Welch (USAW) def. Renee Joseph/Radka Ferancova (MSU) 8-5
3. Valeriya Makarycheva/Daniela Juskova (MSU) def. Jelena Krivacevic/Erica Krisan (USAW) 8-4
Match Notes:
University of South Alabama 6-0; National ranking No. 59
Mississippi State 5-0; National ranking No. 75
Order of finish: Doubles (3,2,1); Singles (4,1,3,5,2,6)
