Men's Tennis
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - The Mississippi State men’s tennis team began play Friday at the Crimson Tide Fall Invitational in Tuscaloosa, Ala., with rain forcing the tournament indoors for part of the day, before returning to the outdoor courts in the afternoon. MState had four players advance to the quarterfinals of their respective singles draws with victories Friday.
Bulldog rookie Daniel Sanchez defeated Vanderbilt’s Bryant Salcedo in a two-set bout, 6-4, 6-4, in the Bryant Draw. Competing in the Musso Draw, senior Ryan Farlow earned a victory over Andrew Poole of Southern Mississippi, 6-4, 6-2.
Playing in the Shealy Draw, MSU junior Chris Doerr outlasted Charlie Jones of Vanderbilt in three sets, 6-1, 2-6, 6-3. Junior Antonio Lastre rounded out State’s singles wins on the day after taking control in a tight second set to down Jacksonville State’s Scott Robertson 6-3, 7-5 in the Hannah Draw.
In doubles action, the tandem of Doerr and sophomore Tanner Stump, who stepped onto the courts with a 4-2 doubles record this fall, shutout Jaime Esteban and Aroon Khatter of Jacksonville 8-0 in their opening match in the White Draw. They followed with an 8-4 victory over Carlos Alvarez and Wesley Moran of Clemson to move into the quarterfinals of that field.
The Bulldog duo of Farlow and Lastre dropped a competitive match to Kelwin Dewet and Brian Dushock of Samford, 8-6, in the Red Draw.
MState will continue play at the Crimson Tide Invitational on Saturday.
Women's Tennis
ATHENS, Ga. - With singles play slated to start Saturday, the Mississippi State Lady Bulldogs completed doubles action Friday at the ITA South Regional Championships at the University of Georgia.
In competition for MSU was the freshman pair of Olesya Tsigvintseva and Natalia Mayuk, along with the veteran tandem of Radka Ferancova and Elna de Villiers. Playing in the top draw of the tournament, Tsigvintseva and Mayuk dropped an 8-1 decision to the pair of Bianca Eichkorn and Michaela Kissel of Miami. Meanwhile, Ferancova and de Villiers were victims to the Florida State tandem of Jessica Wente and Bonny Davidson, 8-3.
Singles action will get underway Saturday at 9 a.m. CT. State will have five players in action.