Mississippi State
Ole Miss
No. 25 MSU Women?s Tennis Ousts No. 42 Ole Miss 5-2 On Senior Day
April 09, 2016 | Women's Tennis
STARKVILLE, Miss. – To close out the 2016 regular season home slate, the 25th-ranked Mississippi State women's tennis team (14-7, 5-6 Southeastern Conference) defeated No. 42 Ole Miss (9-9, 2-7 SEC) 5-2 Friday afternoon in front of a great home crowd at the A.J. Pitts Tennis Centre.
The victory broke the Rebels' 26-match winning streak in the series that dated back to 1989.
State started the day with a hard-fought performance in doubles. At the No. 1 position, MSU's 69th-ranked tandem of Madison Harrison and Kristina Vozniak upset UM's No. 27 duo of Arianne Hartono and Mai El Kamash 6-2. Ole Miss evened things as Allie Sanford and Natalie Suk setback Bulldogs Jasmine Lee and Louise Ronaldson 6-2 on court 2. At the No. 3 position, State's No. 85 pair of Georgiana Patrasc and Anastasia Rentouli held off Rebels Zalina Khairudinova and Marija Milutinovic 6-4 to clinch the doubles point and give MSU a 1-0 lead.
In singles, the Bulldogs and Rebels split the first six sets with three apiece. State would take a quick 3-0 lead by posting straight-set wins in the first two matches complete. Harrison upset Rebel El Kamash, ranked 85th, by a dominating 6-3, 6-1 score on court 3 and State's lone senior, 33rd-ranked Patrasc, defeated UM's Suk in a convincing 6-1, 6-2 victory at the No. 2 position.
The Rebels did not relinquish hope, answering with their own back-to-back victories to cut MSU's lead down to 3-2. UM's No. 29 Hartono defeated MSU's No. 14 Lee in straight sets 6-3, 7-5 at the top spot and Ole Miss' Khairudinova upset State's No. 115 Rentouli 6-3, 6-4 on court 4.
With two matches remaining and coming down to the wire, State's Jennifer Brown would clinch the match at 4-2, staving off UM's Sanford 6-4, 6-4 at the No. 6 position. On court 5, MSU's Vozniak won the last eight points of her third-set tiebreaker to defeat UM's Milutinovic 5-7, 7-6(5), 1-0(5) to make the final score 5-2 in favor of the Bulldogs.
The match was Senior Day, honoring Patrasc for her outstanding career as a Bulldog. Overall, Patrasc has an 88-48 singles record and 62-47 doubles record during her four seasons playing in the Maroon and White, standing third all-time on MSU's total wins chart (first in singles, third in doubles) with 150 victories.
“I was so proud of our entire team today for fighting for this win. We played well in doubles to go up early and then Madison and Georgiana put us in position to win it in singles. Then Jenn took control of her match at the right time to get the clincher for us and Kristina fought hard for the final point,” head coach Daryl Greenan said. “G has meant a lot to this team. Obviously it was her Senior Day and she was into it. She has done a great job as a senior and all four years of her career. She has really made a huge impact on this program and it shows by all the records she holds. She highlighted it well today with a win in doubles and she played unbelievably well in singles to give us an early lead.”
State closes out regular season conference play on the road next weekend, traveling to Missouri on April 14 and Arkansas on April 16.
For more information on Mississippi State women's tennis and updates, fans can follow the Bulldogs on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at HailStateWT.
No. 25 Mississippi State 5, No. 42 Ole Miss 2
April 8, 2016 – A.J. Pitts Tennis Centre – Starkville, Miss.
Doubles
Order of match finish…1,2,3
1. No. 69 Madison Harrison/Kristina Vozniak (MSU) def. No. 27 Arianne Hartono/Mai El Kamash (UM) 6-2
2. Allie Sanford/Natalie Suk (UM) def. Jasmine Lee/Louise Ronaldson (MSU) 6-2
3. No. 85 Georgiana Patrasc/Anastasia Rentouli (MSU) def. Zalina Khairudinova/Marija Milutinovic (UM) 6-4
Singles
Order of match finish…3,2,1,4,6,5
1. No. 29 Arianna Hartono (UM) def. No. 14 Jasmine Lee (MSU) 6-3, 7-5
2. No. 33 Georgiana Patrasc (MSU) def. No. 68 Natalie Suk (UM) 6-1, 6-2
3. Madison Harrison (MSU) def. No. 85 Mai El Kamash (UM) 6-3, 6-1
4. Zalina Khairudinova (UM) def. No. 115 Anastasia Rentouli (MSU) 6-3, 6-4
5. Kristina Vozniak (MSU) def. Marija Milutinovic (UM) 5-7, 7-6(5), 1-0(5)
6. Jennifer Brown (MSU) def. Allie Sanford (UM) 6-4, 6-4
