Mississippi State
Texas A&M
No. 28 Women's Tennis Falls 5-2 At No. 16 Texas A&M
March 12, 2016 | Women's Tennis
COLLEGE STATION, Texas – In its first Southeastern Conference road contest of 2016, the 28th-ranked Mississippi State women's tennis team (10-3, 1-2 Southeastern) fell to No. 16 Texas A&M (10-4, 2-1) 5-2 on Friday afternoon.
MSU surrendered the doubles point Friday for the first time in eight matches. A&M's 56th-ranked tandem of Rutuja Bhosale and Anna Mamalat upset MSU's 43rd-ranked pair of Jasmine Lee and Louise Ronaldson 6-1 on court two. At the top spot, the Aggies' duo of No. 41 Eva Paalma and Rachel Pierson setback State's No. 34 Madison Harrison and Georgiana Patrasc 6-2 to clinch the doubles point and give A&M a 1-0 lead. The remaining doubles match was suspended 4-3 in favor of the Aggies.
In singles, Texas A&M quickly extended its lead to 2-0 as Domenica Gonzalez defeated Anastasia Rentouli 6-1, 6-1 on court four, breaking a 10-match winning streak for the MSU freshman.
At the No. 5 position, MSU's Vozniak would cut into the Aggies' lead with a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Paalma to make the score 2-1.
Texas A&M would respond with back-to-back wins to clinch the match at 4-1. On court 3, Rachel Pierson defeated MSU's Madison Harrison 6-3, 6-3 and Rutuja Bhosale downed State's No. 86 Georgiana Patrasc 6-4, 2-6, 6-1 at No. 2.
MSU would go on to claim one of the two remaining matches. At the No. 6 position, State's Brown outlasted A&M's Ines Deheza 6-4, 6-7(4), 1-0(5) to make the score 4-2. In a three-set battle at No. 1 to end the day, the Aggies' No. 40 Saska Gavrilovska came from behind against the Bulldogs' ninth-ranked Lee 6-7(4), 6-3, 6-4 to set the final score at 5-2.
“Today was a tough loss against a good Texas A&M team,” head coach Daryl Greenan said. “We came out a little flat in doubles, but battled very well in singles. The difference was just a point here or there and we could have won. The girls play with heart and effort every day and I feel confident they will come up with some big wins moving forward in SEC play. Our next opportunity comes on Sunday.”
State returns to action Sunday in Baton Rouge taking on No. 15 LSU at 11 a.m. CT.
For more information on Mississippi State women's tennis and updates, fans can follow the Bulldogs on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at HailStateWT.
No. 16 Texas A&M 5, No. 28 Mississippi State 2
March 11, 2016 – Mitchell Tennis Center – College Station, Texas
Doubles
Order of match finish…2,1
1. No. 41 Eva Paalma/Rachel Pierson (A&M) def. No. 34 Madison Harrison/Georgiana Patrasc (MSU) 6-2
2. No. 56 Rutuja Bhosale/Anna Mamalate (A&M) def. No. 43 Jasmine Lee/Louise Ronaldson (MSU) 6-1
3. Ines Deheza/Domenica Gonzalez (A&M) vs. No. 70 Jennifer Brown/Kristina Vozniak (MSU) 4-3 (susp.)
Singles
Order of match finish…4,5,3,2,6,1
1. No. 40 Saska Gavrilovska (A&M) def. No. 9 Jasmine Lee (MSU) 6-7(4), 6-3, 6-4
2. Rutuja Bhosale (A&M) def. No. 86 Georgiana Patrasc (MSU) 6-4, 2-6, 6-1
3. Rachel Pierson (A&M) def. Madison Harrison (MSU) 6-3, 6-3
4. Domenica Gonzalez (A&M) def. No. 51 Anastasia Rentouli (MSU) 6-1, 6-1
5. Kristina Vozniak (MSU) def. Eva Paalma (A&M) 6-3, 6-2
6. Jennifer Brown (MSU) def. Ines Deheza (A&M) 6-4, 6-7(4), 1-0(5)
