Mississippi State
Kentucky
No. 28 MSU Women?s Tennis Rallies For 4-2 Upset Over No. 23 Kentucky
April 02, 2016 | Women's Tennis
Starkville, Miss. – After falling on Friday in a tight match with No. 5 Vanderbilt, the Mississippi State women's tennis team (13-7, 4-6 Southeastern Conference) rebounded Saturday by coming back from a 2-0 deficit to upend No. 23 Kentucky (14-7, 3-6 SEC) 4-2 at the A.J. Pitts Tennis Centre.
To start the day in doubles, UK's third-ranked Mami Adachi and Aldila Satjadi ousted MSU's tandem of Madison Harrison and Kristina Vozniak 6-3 at the top spot. Following on court 2, Wildcats Justina Mikuskyte and Nadia Ravita knocked off State's pair of Jasmine Lee and Louise Ronaldson 6-2 to clinch the doubles point and give UK a 1-0 lead. The remaining doubles match was suspended 4-3 in favor of the Wildcats.
In singles, the Wildcats appeared to be in control early, building 4-1 first-set leads on four courts (State was in similar control on the other two), but the Bulldogs would rally and do so in incredible fashion. Kentucky took its 2-0 lead by posting a win in the first match complete as Adachi ousted State's Vozniak 6-2, 6-3 on court five. Then the MSU comeback was on.
State's No. 100 Anastasia Rentouli finished off UK's Akvile Parazinskaite in straight sets 6-2, 6-2 at No. 4 to cut into the Wildcat lead 2-1. Bulldog Jennifer Brown was next off the court with her own straight-set victory on court 6 cruising past Wildcat Kirsten Lewis 6-1, 6-2 to tie the score 2-2.
At the top spot, State's 13th-ranked Jasmine Lee found her rhythm to overcome a 5-2 deficit in the first set to Kentucky's No. 49 Mikuskyte, losing only three games the rest of the way for a 7-5, 6-3 triumph. That win gave MSU its first lead of the day at 3-2.
All eyes then turned to courts two and three as the Bulldogs and Wildcats came down to the wire in the deciding set on each. On court two, State's No. 71 Patrasc was tied 1-1 with UK's No. 49 Sutjadi and at the No. 3 position MSU's Harrison led Wildcat Ravita 2-1. The teams would battle back-and-forth until the Bulldogs held 5-4 and 6-5 leads (both up a service break), respectively, in the deciding minutes of the match.
It would be State's lone senior, Patrasc, that provided the match clincher as she held serve at No. 2 for a 1-6, 6-4, 6-4 upset to clinch the match for the Bulldogs. Court 3's match was suspended at that point with MSU's Harrison having won the first point of a third-set tiebreaker, leading 4-6, 6-3, 6-6(1-0).
“It was a huge win for us today,” head coach Daryl Greenan said. “Kentucky is an SEC team and one of the better ones. I am proud of Georgiana (Patrasc) and how she was able to fight back after losing the first set 6-1. She is playing like a senior, giving it her whole heart every match.”
The victory was State's first over the Wildcats since 2010 and only the sixth ever. Coupled with its win at No. 15 LSU earlier this season, Saturday's win marks the first time since 1989 that State has notched two top 25 wins in a single season.
MSU will close out its 2016 regular season home schedule this Friday, April 8, at 3 p.m. CT, hosting rival Ole Miss. The match will be Senior Day, the final home match for Patrasc who will be recognized for a remarkable four-year career at State.
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. 23 Kentucky 2
April 2, 2016 – A.J. Pitts Tennis Centre – Starkville, Miss.
Doubles
Order of match finish…1,2
1. No. 3 Mami Adachi/Aldila Sutjadi (UK) def. Madison Harrison/Kristina Vozniak (MSU) 6-3
2. Jasmine Lee/Louise Ronaldson (MSU) vs. Nadia Ravita/Justina Mikuskyte (UK) 6-2
3. Kirsten Lewis/Akvile Parazinskaite (UK) vs. No. 61 Georgiana Patrasc/Anastasia Rentouli (MSU) 4-3 (susp.)
Singles
Order of match finish…5,4,6,1,2
1. No. 13 Jasmine Lee (MSU) def. No. 76 Justina Mikuskyte (UK) 7-5, 6-3
2. No. 71 Georgiana Patrasc (MSU) def. No. 49 Aldila Sutjadi (UK) 1-6, 6-4, 6-4
3. Madison Harrison (MSU) vs. Nadia Ravita (UK) 4-6, 6-3, 6-6(1-0) susp.
4. No. 100 Anastasia Rentouli (MSU) def. Akvile Parazinskaite (UK) 6-2, 6-2
5. Mami Adachi (UK) def. Kristina Vozniak (MSU) 6-2, 6-3
6. Jennifer Brown (MSU) def. Kirsten Lewis (UK) 6-1, 6-2
