STARKVILLE, Miss. – The Vanderbilt men’s tennis team dropped their second weekend road match with a 5-2 loss to Mississippi State.
Andy Mack and Jordan Magarik earned their second consecutive conference doubles win, setting a 4-2 SEC mark. The Bulldogs (5-9, 2-4) took the win at Nos. 1 and 3, however, to go ahead 1-0 into the singles contests.
Early losses from VU’s Evan Dufaux and James Moye brought the Bulldogs within one match of taking the victory. Freshman Vijay Paul followed with a fight that led to a win over MSU’s Pjotrs Necajevs 7-5, 6-1 to slow the Bulldogs.
The match outcome was clinched at No. 1, where VU’s Ryan Preston fell to Ivan Bjelica 6-1, 7-5. Andy Mack and Nik Cromydas played super tiebreakers to finish the afternoon play. Cromydas defeated Philippe Frayssinoux for Vandy’s final match point, while Mack fell to Ryan Farlow.
Vanderbilt will return to Nashville to host Tennessee and Georgia March 30 and April 1 at the Currey Tennis Center.
RESULTS
MSU 5, VU 2
DOUBLES
1. Bjelica/Frayssinoux (MSU) d. Preston/Cromydas (VU) 8-3
2. Kuznetsov/Necajevs (MSU) d. Dufaux/Sachs (VU) 8-3
3. Mack/Magarik (VU) d. Doerr/Farlow (MSU) 8-3
Order of finish: 2, 3, 1*
SINGLES
1. #39 Ivan Bjelica (MSU) d. #63 Ryan Preston (VU) 6-1, 7-5
2. #125 Nik Cromydas (VU) d. Philippe Frayssinoux (MSU) 2-6, 6-0, 2-1
3. Artem Kuznetsov (MSU) d. Evan Dufaux (VU) 6-1, 6-2
4. Vijay Paul (VU) d. Pjotrs Necajevs (MSU) 7-5, 6-1
5. Ryan Farlow (MSU) d. Andy Mack (VU) 6-5, 5-4, 1-0(4)
6. Chris Doerr (MSU) d. James Moye (VU) 6-4, 6-3
Order of finish: 3, 6, 4, 1*, 2, 5
