Alabama Men's Tennis Falls to Mississippi State, 4-3
3/14/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
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By Clint Briscoe
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - The No. 19 University of Alabama men's tennis team (13-3, 2-3 SEC) rallied from three points down to tie No. 36 Mississippi State (5-6, 1-2 SEC), but it wasn't enough as the Tide lost to the Bulldogs, 4-3.
The attention of the stands focused on court two where, for the fifth time this season, the outcome of the match depended on last match remaining, this time between UA's Stephen Mitchell and MSU's Rene-Charles Combette. Despite winning the first set 6-4, Mitchell was unable to hold off Combette, who rallied back and won the next two sets to steal the match and seal the victory for State.
"The critical thing is that it's an SEC loss," Alabama head coach Billy Pate said. "They came out and were more ready in doubles today. We were a little flat there. Combette played an aoutstanding match against Stephen (Mitchell). There were a couple of chances we had to we but we came up with the short end of the stick.
"We're going to be ready to bounce and be really prepared for Ole Miss on Sunday. There will be a little less pressure and we're going to go for it on Sunday."
After trailing the Bulldogs 3-0 in the match, the fate of the Tide turned as they started the rally on court six with a victory from William Boyles. Boyles match was followed by a quick win from UA's Geoff Hiscox, and it was topped off by Christian Brodersen's straight sets victory over Max Fomine.
Brodersen's straight-set victory, came after he survived a 30 point tie-breaker in his first set against Fomine to win 16-14, and he went on to win his next set 6-4 .
In doubles play, the Tide's only win came when UA's Bradley Friedman and Stephen Mitchell defeated MSU's Jerome LeBelicard and Florent Girod 8-3.
The Tide's next match will be against Ole Miss Sunday at 1 p.m. in Tuscaloosa.
Complete Match Results Follow:
Singles
1. Romain Ambert (MSU) d. Max Belski (UA) 6-2,6-4
2. Rene-Charles Combette (MSU) d. Stephen Mitchell (UA) 4-6, 6-3, 6-4
3. Jerome LeBelicard (MSU) d. Chris Gostek (UA) 6-4, 7-6
4. Geoff Hiscox (UA) d. Florent Girod (MSU) 6-2, 6-7, 6-4
5. Christian Brodersen (UA) d. Max Fomine (MSU) 7-6 (14), 6-4
6. William Boyles (UA) d. Luc Maasdorp (MSU) 3-6, 6-2, 6-2
Doubles
1. Ambert/Combette (MSU) d. Belski/Hiscox (UA) 8-3
2. Bradley Friedman/Mitchell (UA) d. LeBelicard/Girod (MSU) 8-3
3. Fomine/Michael Hailey (MSU) d. Boyles/Gostek (UA) 8-3
