Mississippi State
Southern Miss
Lady Bulldog Tennis Wins Sixth-Straight In 5-2 Triumph Over USM
February 28, 2010 | Women's Tennis
STARKVILLE, Miss. - Mississippi State's women's tennis team (7-1) wrapped up a successful nonconference start to the 2010 season, as the Lady Bulldogs ousted Southern Mississippi (4-6) Sunday for their seventh win of the year.
"The girls did a great job," said Lady Bulldog head coach Daryl Greenan. "They handled a lot of adversity throughout these last several matches, and I think that gives us confidence going into SEC play."
With several unfamiliar tandems playing together in doubles, Mississippi State seemed unphased, as they Lady Bulldogs took wins at the top two positions to win the point. Senior Radka Ferancova and sophomore Danielle Terpko ousted the USM pair of Veroni Van Berlo and Eelja Van Berlo 8-5, while the MSU duo of Valeriya Makarycheva and Mariia Ryzhova took an 8-3 win over the Golden Eagle tandem of Lauren Gutterman and Stephanie Dellocono at the No. 2 court.
Junior Elizabeth Hall picked up her second start of the season in doubles, playing with teammate Natalia Mayuk at the third position. After building up a 3-0 lead, the State tandem was unable to hold on, losing the match 8-4 to the USM team of Zoe Lee and Shannon Rogers.
In singles, State started off with a split at the top two courts. Mayuk defated USM's Dellocono 6-2, 6-2 for her first career-win at the No. 2 position. Meanwhile, Ferancova took a 6-1, 6-4 loss to Golden Eagle Vroni Van Berlo at the top position.
With the score at 2-1 in State's favor, State moved one step closer to clinching the match when Ryzhova ousted USM's Gutterman 6-4, 6-2, before Zachary fell 6-3, 7-5 to Rogers at the No. 6 court. Senior Makarycheva would put the match away; however, as she took another straight-set win at the third position. She defeated Elja Van Berlo 6-2, 6-2 to put the score at 4-2.
Terpko then picked up her fourth win of the season with a 6-4, 6-4 triumph over Lee at the No. 5 court. Her victory also gave Mississippi State its fourth straight-set win of the day.
With the victory, Mississippi State improves to 30-3 all time against USM. It is State's largest series lead over any team in school history.
State begins SEC play next weekend as it hosts a pair of conference matches at the A.J. Pitts Tennis Centre. Match time between MSU and Kentucky is slated for 2 p.m. CT Friday.
#69 MISSISSIPPI STATE 5, SOUTHERN MISS. 2
2/28/10 - A.J. Pitts Tennis Centre
DOUBLES - Radka Ferancova/Danielle Terpko (MSU) def. Vroni Van Berlo/Elja Van Berlo (USM) 8-5; Valeriya Makarycheva/Mariia Ryzhova (MSU) def. Lauren Gutterman/Stephanie Dellocono (USM) 8-3; Sharon Rogers/Zoe Lee (USM) def. Natalia Mayuk/Elizabeth Hall (MSU) 8-4
SINGLES - Vroni Van Berlo (USM) def. Ferancova (MSU) 6-1, 6-4; Mayuk (MSU) def. Dellocono (USM) 6-2, 6-2; Makarycheva (MSU) def. Elja Van Berlo (USM) 6-2, 6-2; Ryzhova (MSU) def. Gutterman (USM) 6-4, 6-2; Terpko (MSU) def. Lee (USM) 6-4, 6-4; Rogers (USM) def. Jordan Zachary (MSU) 6-3, 7-5
Order of finish... DOUBLES (2, 3, 1) SINGLES (2, 1, 4, 6, 3, 5)
Players Mentioned
