STARKVILLE — The Mississippi State women’s tennis rallied after losing the doubles point to upset No. 2 Vanderbilt 4-3 at the A.J. Pitts Tennis Centre.
The victory helped MSU (11-5, 2-3 Southeastern Conference) earn its highest-ranked win in the history of the school’s men’s and women’s tennis programs.
The victory also snapped Vanderbilt’s 32-match winning streak in the series. It was MSU’s first victory against Vanderbilt since 1991.
“I have been saying each week how proud I am of how these girls battle,” MSU coach Daryl Greenan said. “Their commitment paid off in a big way today. We will enjoy this win today and then we have to get ready for another battle Saturday. This league is extremely tough, and we will continue to fight one match at a time.”
For the second-consecutive outing, MSU’s match was decided on court 4. With the score tied at 3, junior Anastasia Rentouli led 4-0 in the third set before Vanderbilt’s 98th-ranked Amanda Meyer battled back to take a 6-5 lead and served for the match. Much like in a 4-3 win at Alabama on Saturday, Rentouli’s teammates cheered her on and helped the Athens, Greece, product break Meyer at love to force a deciding tiebreak.
Rentouli built a 3-1 lead in the breaker, but Meyer battled back. The players went back and forth and Rentouli found herself leading 6-5 and serving. On a final point that was indicative of how the match went, the players exchanged a 39-shot rally before Rentouli drilled a backhand winner down the line to for a 7-5, 6-3, 7-6 (5) match-clinching victory.
Senior Khrystyna Vozniak earned a 7-6 (5), 7-6 (8) triumph against Emily Smith at No. 6 to set the stage for Rentouli. Smith served for the second set at 6-5, but Vozniak rallied to force the second tiebreaker.
Vanderbilt (11-3, 4-1) outlasted MSU in doubles for the early 1-0 lead. On court 1, VU’s Amanda Meyer and Astra Sharma defeated Madison Harrison and Vozniak 6-3. On court 3, MSU’s Sara Lizariturry and Rentouli defeated Fernanda Contreras and Emily Smith 6-4. On court 2, Vanderbilt’s Lauren Gish and Christina Rosca outlasted Magda Adaloglou and Janina Braun 7-5.
The Bulldogs rebounded in singles to split the first sets evenly with the Commodores to try to get back into the match.
MSU’s Braun upset 27th-ranked Rosca 6-3, 6-2 on court 3 for the first ranked singles win of her career. The win snapped a six-match skid for Braun.
Following close behind, Vanderbilt’s fifth-ranked Contreras held off Adaloglou 7-5, 6-4 at No. 2 to give the Commodores a 2-1 lead.
Tying the match for a second time, Lizariturry posted a 6-4, 7-5 victory against Dvorak to remain perfect in conference play and to earn her fourth-straight decision.
Giving the Commodores their final lead for the day, the 22nd-ranked Sharma outlasted Harrison in three sets on court 1, 6-3, 3-6, 6-2 to give Vanderbilt a 3-2 lead.
MSU will play host to No. 14 Kentucky at noon Saturday.
n No. 15 MSU men’s tennis team will take on No. 38 Alabama, the No. 15 MSU men’s tennis team (9-1, 3-0) will face No. 38 Alabama (14-4, 0-3) at 6 p.m. today at the Alabama Tennis Complex.
“Alabama has a solid team and are in the top 40,” MSU fourth-year coach Matt Roberts said. “We expect a battle and a good crowd. Our guys are ready to compete and continue their development that we have been focusing on.”
On Wednesday, sophomore Giovanni Oradini captured SEC Player of the Week honors after going 4-0 on the weekend in MSU wins against No. 9 Florida and No. 28 South Carolina.
n No. 11 Ole Miss women’s tennis team beats No. 14 Kentucky: At Oxford, Behind a clutch doubles performance and singles wins from Alexa Bortles, Arianne Hartono, and Tea Jandric, the No. 11 Ole Miss women’s tennis team beat No. 14 Kentucky 4-1 on Thursday at the Palmer/Salloum Tennis Center.
With the win, the Rebels improved to 11-4 and 2-3 in the SEC.
“Winning the doubles was huge,” Ole Miss coach Mark Beyers said. “We’ve struggled the past few weeks in doubles, but hopefully this will give us some confidence not only for Saturday but moving forward after this weekend. It was a battle in singles just like it always is in the SEC, with lots of momentum changes and several three-setters. Overall, it was a great team effort against an excellent Kentucky team. They’re ranked No. 14 for a reason, so it’s fantastic to be able to come out on top.”
n Ole Miss men’s tennis team will play host to No. 14 Georgia: At Oxford, the Ole Miss men’s tennis team will play host to No. 14 Georgia at 5 p.m. today at the Palmer/Salloum Tennis Center.
In case of inclement weather, the matches will be played at the Ole Miss Indoor Tennis Center located near the Manning Center.
Ole Miss (9-5, 1-3) is 7-1 at home this year including a win over then-No. 9 Baylor. It is coming off losses to Vanderbilt and Kentucky last weekend.
n Alabama women’s tennis team will face No. 13 Auburn: At Auburn, Alabama, the Alabama women’s tennis team will take on No. 13 Auburn at 2 p.m. today at the Yarbrough Tennis Center.
In the first meeting of the season, the Tigers defeated the Crimson Tide 4-0 in the third round of the Blue Gray National Tennis Classic on Feb. 24.
Alabama is coming off SEC losses to Ole Miss and MSU and a 4-0 victory against Tennessee-Martin.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 43 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.