Mississippi State
South Carolina
State Women's Tennis Falls To South Carolina, 6-1
March 21, 2008 | Women's Tennis
COLUMBIA, S.C. ? The 59th-ranked Mississippi State women's tennis team fell to #33 South Carolina 6-1 Friday on the road. The Lady Bulldogs dropped to 7-6 overall with the loss and 0-5 in league play. South Carolina improved to 9-5, 2-3.
USC started the match with a sweep of the doubles matches to take a 1-0 lead. On court No. 1, the MSU duo of Martina Banikova and Elna de Villiers fell to South Carolina's 33rd-ranked tandem of Gira Schofield and Ana Zubori 8-0. Then, on court No. 2, MSU's Radka Ferancova and Renee Joseph fell to Suzanna Mansour and Megan McGavock 8-3. To finish off doubles, USC's Jelena Rajic and Natasa Vuckovic defeated Valeriya Makarycheva and DeAndra Saddler 8-3.
In singles play, South Carolina took a 3-0 match lead with two straight-set victories in the first two matches completed. On court No. 3, Vuckovic defeated Ferancova 6-3, 6-1. McGavock then posted a 6-2, 6-3 victory over State's DeAndra Saddler at the No. 5 position.
The match-clincher would come at No. 1, where USC's 44th-ranked Schofield defeated MSU's Banikova 6-2, 6-2.
Mississippi State would then post its lone point of the day with a 6-1, 6-4 victory on court No. 4 by de Villiers, who downed South Carolina's Mansour. The win was de Villiers' seventh-straight singles victory.
USC would finish off the match with back-to-back victories. On court No. 2, Joseph was defeated by #75 Zubori 6-2, 6-2 and Makarycheva fell to Rajic, 6-3, 6-2 at No. 6.
Mississippi State will next play this Sunday, March 23, when they will host fourth-ranked Florida at 1 p.m. CT at the A.J. Pitts Tennis Centre.
#33 South Carolina 6, #59 Mississippi State 1
March 23, 2008 ? Columbia, S.C.
DOUBLES ? #33 Gira Schofield/Ana Zubori (USC) def. Martina Banikova/Elna de Villiers (MSU) 8-0; Suzana Mansour/Megan McGavock (USC) def. Radka Ferancova/Renee Joseph (MSU) 8-3; Jelena Rajic/Natasa Vuckovic (USC) def. Valeriya Makarycheva/DeAndra Saddler 8-3.
SINGLES ? #44 Schofield (USC) def. Banikova (MSU) 6-2, 6-2; #75 Zubori (USC) def Joseph (MSU) 6-2, 6-2; Vuckovic (USC) def. Ferancova (MSU) 6-3, 6-1; de Villiers (MSU) def. Mansour (USC) 6-1, 6-4; McGavock (USC) def. DeAndra Saddler (MSU) 6-2, 6-3; Rajic (USC) def. Makarycheva (MSU) 6-3, 6-2.
(numbers preceding names are current national rankings)
Players Mentioned
