No. 23 Tennis Beats Mississippi St. 5-2

Sunday, March 2

Starkville, MS

University of Tennessee

Mississippi State

March 02, 2008 | Women's Tennis

Box Score??

STARKVILLE, Miss. ??? The No. 23 University of Tennessee women???s tennis team (8-2, 2-0 Southeastern Conference) closed out a season-long, six-match road trip in style Sunday afternoon, with a 5-2 victory over Mississippi State (5-3, 0-2 SEC) at the A.J. Pitts Tennis Centre in Starkville, Miss. The Lady Vols finished the month-long journey, which saw them take on opponents in five different states, with four wins in six contests.

Although the Big Orange would eventually win the contest, it was unable to claim the doubles point for just the second time this season, falling at the first and second positions. The only other time UT failed to win the first point of the match this spring was in a 4-3 defeat at the hands of then-No. 25 Michigan on Feb. 15.

Tennessee struck the first blow, however, with the duo of freshman Jennifer Meredith and sophomore Connor Vogel defeating Daniela Juskova and Valariya Makarycheva, 8-3, on the third court. The Bulldogs bounced right back though, with Radka Ferancova and Renee Joseph taking out the Orange and White pairing of senior Ghizela Schutte and freshman Rosal??a Alda, 8-6, on court two to even the score.

With the all-important doubles point in the balance, Martina Banikova and Elna de Villiers emerged victorious in a hard-fought battle with the nation???s No.-2-ranked tandem of Lady Vol sophomores Caitlin Whoriskey and Zs??fia Zubor, 8-5, on center court.

With Mississippi State now leading 1-0, the Big Orange went into singles play with the goal of halting the Bulldogs??? momentum and getting back on track. And with three quick wins, that is exactly what it did. Meredith was the first to finish, tying the match with a 6-3, 6-3 triumph over Juskova at the fourth spot in the lineup. Shortly thereafter, Alda and Zubor increased the UT lead to a 3-1 advantage with victories on the sixth and second courts, respectively. Alda defeated Makarycheva, 6-3, 6-4, while the 90th-rated Zubor took down Joseph, 6-1, 6-4.

Mississippi State refused to go home without a fight though, as de Villiers picked up the Bulldogs??? lone singles win of the afternoon with a 6-0, 7-5, win over Vogel to narrow the margin to 3-2 in favor of the Orange and White.

That would be as close as MSU would get, however, with members of the Tennessee squad claiming victory in the final two contests to finish off the match and give the Lady Vols their eighth win of the season and second during SEC play. Junior Samantha Orlin sealed the deal for UT, coming back from a tough first set to eliminate Ferancova, 0-6, 6-4, 6-2. Just moments later, Schutte added to the Big Orange???s total on the scoreboard, tallying a straight-set, 6-3, 7-5, triumph over Banikova on center court, to finalize the 5-2 victory.

The Lady Vols will finally return home on Fri., March 7, when No. 7 Florida (8-1, 2-0 SEC) makes the trip to Rocky Top for a 3:30 p.m. ET showdown at the UT Varsity Courts. UT will be looking for the first win in program history over the Gators, as UF has taken all 31 previous meetings between the two squads.

No. 23 University of Tennessee 5, Mississippi State University 2
SINGLES??
1.	Ghizela Schutte (UT)	def.	Martina Banikova (MS)	6-3, 7-5
2.	No. 90 Zs??fia Zubor (UT)	def.	Renee Joseph (MS)	6-1, 6-4
3.	Samantha Orlin (UT)	def.	Radka Ferancova (MS)	0-6, 6-4, 6-2
4.	Jennifer Meredith (UT)	def.	Daniela Juskova (MS)	6-3, 6-3
5.	Elna de Villiers (MS)	def.	Connor Vogel (UT)	6-0, 7-5
6.	Rosal??a Alda (UT)	def.	Valariya Makarycheva (MS)	6-3, 6-4
DOUBLES
1.	Martina Banikova/Elna de Villiers (MS)	def.	No. 2 Caitlin Whoriskey/Zs??fia Zubor (UT)	8-5
2.	Radka Ferancova/Renee Joseph (MS)	def.	Ghizela Schutte/Rosal??a Alda (UT)	8-6
3.	Jennifer Meredith/Connor Vogel (UT)	def.	Daniela Juskova/Valariya Makarycheva (MS)	8-3