Women's Tennis Defeats Mississippi State In SEC First Round
4/17/2003 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
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The 20th ranked University of Alabama women’s team won 4-1 over the Mississippi State Bulldogs in the first round of the Southeastern Conference Tournament on Thursday in Knoxville, Tenn. The Crimson Tide improved to 17-6 overall with the win, while the Bulldogs dropped to 7-14.
“We played as well as we needed to play,” UA head coach Jenny Mainz said. “We struggled some with getting things going. Mississippi State came out ready and played very well.” Bama was able to win at the number two and three doubles positions to claim the doubles point. Rain then forced the match inside for singles play.
In singles action, Marie-France Lord-Andrade put Alabama up 2-0 with a 6-1, 6-2 win at the number four singles position over Mississippi State’s Elaine Fagan. MSU closed the gap to 2-1 as the Bulldogs’ Anastasia Kugakolova defeated UA’s Sophie Cremers 6-4, 6-4 at the number two singles spot.
Bama’s Millie Begovic put the Crimson Tide up 3-1 by defeating the Bulldogs’ Magdi Rekasi 7-5, 6-1 at number one singles. UA’s Robin Stephenson then clinched the victory with a 6-4, 3-6, 6-0 win over MSU’s Marcelle Hirt.
“We didn’t play with the sense of urgency that we needed to,” Mainz said. “We need to be able to do that against Kentucky tomorrow.”
Sixth-seeded Alabama advances on to face the third-seeded Kentucky Wildcats. The match is set for Friday at 8 a.m. EDT. Kentucky is ranked 14th in the nation and has an overall record of 20-6 while going 9-2 in the SEC. Kentucky defeated Alabama 4-3 earlier in the season.
Results
No. 20 Alabama- 4 Mississippi State- 1
Doubles
1. Rekasi/Kugakulova (MSU) vs. No. 50 Begovic/Stephenson (UA) 6-3 DNF
2. Cremers/Bentley (UA) def. Fagan/Hirt (MSU) 8-5
3. Koppelle/McElveen (UA) def. Ueda/Assumpcao (MSU) 8-4
Order of Finish: 3, 2
Singles
1. Millie Begovic (UA) def. Magdi Rekasi (MSU) 7-5, 6-1
2. Anastasia Kugakolova (MSU) def. Sophie Cremers (UA) 6-4, 6-4
3. Robin Stephenson (UA) def. Marcelle Hirt (MSU) 6-4, 3-6, 6-0*
4. Marie-France Lord-Andrade (UA) def. Elaine Fagan (MSU) 6-1, 6-2
5. Yumi Ueda (MSU) vs. Ashley Bentley (UA) 4-3 DNF
6. Nathalie Koppelle (UA) vs. Patricia Assumpcao (MSU) 4-1 DNF
* clinched match
Order of Finish: 4, 2, 1, 3
