Mississippi State
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No. 28 MSU Women?s Tennis Posts 4-3 Upset At No. 15 LSU
March 13, 2016 | Women's Tennis
BATON ROUGE, La. –In a fight to the finish, the Mississippi State women's tennis team (11-3, 2-2 Southeastern Conference) upset No. 15 LSU (13-5, 2-2) 4-3 Sunday on the road in a thrilling back-and-forth battle.
The victory was State's first win over a top 15 team on the road in program history and the first over LSU in Baton Rouge since 2005.
After the teams battled to a 3-3 tie, all eyes turned to the top spot in the lineup that featured a top 20 matchup in State's No. 9 Jasmine Lee and LSU's 20th-ranked Joana Vale Costa. Vale Costa would take the first set 7-5, but Lee came back to take the second set 6-4 after trailing 4-3. With Lee leading 3-2 in the third set, the players combined for four straight breaks of serve before Lee served out the win in come-from-behind fashion 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 to clinch the match for MSU 4-3.
To start the day in doubles, LSU's tandem Skylar Holloway and Skylar Kuykendall upset MSU's 70th-ranked Jennifer Brown and Kristina Vozniak 6-0 on court 3. At the top spot, State's 34th-ranked duo of Madison Harrison and Georgiana Patrasc ousted the Tigers' pair of Joana Vale Costa and Jessica Golovin 6-3. Quickly following on court 2, the Bulldogs' 43rd-ranked pair of Jasmine Lee and Louise Ronaldson knocked off LSU's Ryann Foster and Abigail Owens 6-3 to clinch the doubles point and give MSU a 1-0 lead.
In singles, the Tigers would respond by claiming four of the six first sets and took a 2-1 lead by posting wins in the first two matches complete. Owens ousted State's Vozniak 6-1, 6-2 on court five and Tiger Ella Taylor defeated MSU's Brown 6-1, 6-3 at the No. 6 position.
But the Bulldogs bounced right back, answering with their own back-to-back victories to regain the lead at 3-2. State's Harrison defeated LSU's Kuykendall in straight sets 6-1, 6-4 at No. 3 and MSU's 86th-ranked Patrasc notched a victory by the same score over Tiger Golovin on court 2.
With two matches still remaining, the Tigers' Foster setback the Bulldogs' 51st-ranked Anastasia Rentouli at No. 4 6-4, 6-3 to tie the match 3-3 and set the stage for the exciting finale between Lee and Vale Costa at No. 1.
“Today was a big win for us and our girls deserved it,” head coach Daryl Greenan said. “They work hard and play with heart every weekend. We have lost a few close ones against higher ranked opponents and I just kept telling them to keep doing what they are doing and trust in themselves and the big wins will come. This win is a big one for their confidence. The SEC is stronger than ever this year and wins are so hard to get so it is nice to have two under our belt already.”
The Bulldogs return to action this weekend at the A.J. Pitts Tennis Centre, hosting 12th-ranked South Carolina on Friday, March 18, at 3 p.m. CT and No. 18 Florida on Sunday, March 20 at 1 p.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. 28 Mississippi State 4, No. 15 LSU 3
March 13, 2016 – LSU Tennis Complex – Baton Rouge, La.
Doubles
Order of match finish…3,2,1
1. #34 Madison Harrison/Georgiana Patrasc (MSU) def. Joana Vale Costa/Jessica Golovin (LSU) 6-3
2. #43 Louise Ronaldson/Jasmine Lee (MSU) def. Abigail Owens/Ryann Foster (LSU) 6-3
3. Skylar Holloway/Skylar Kuykendall (LSU) def. #70 Kristina Vozniak/Jennifer Brown (MSU) 6-0
Singles
Order of match finish…5,6,3,2,4,1
1. #9 Jasmine Lee (MSU) def. #20 Joana Vale Costa (LSU) 5-7, 6-4, 6-4
2. #86 Georgiana Patrasc (MSU) def. #57 Jessica Golovin (LSU) 6-1, 6-4
3. Madison Harrison (MSU) def. Skylar Kuykendall (LSU) 6-1, 6-4
4. Ryann Foster (LSU) def. #51 Anastasia Rentouli (MSU) 6-4, 6-3
5. Abigail Owens (LSU) def. Kristina Vozniak (MSU) 6-1, 6-2
6. Ella Taylor (LSU) def. Jennifer Brown (MSU) 6-1, 6-3
