STARKVILLE – Mississippi State women’s tennis earned a doubleheader sweep of Belmont and Alabama A&M on Friday.
The Bulldogs dropped the doubles point to Belmont (2-4) to begin the day only to battle back to earn the win with four singles victories for a 4-1 win over the Bruins at the A.J. Pitts Tennis Centre. State then shutout its second opponent, Alabama A&M, 7-0 for a doubleheader sweep.
“We rallied after losing the doubles match,” head coach Daryl Greenan said. “I’m proud of the way the girls regrouped, got organized and scrapped it out. They did a great job in singles.”
State moves to 10-1 on the season for the second time under Greenan. The last time the Bulldogs were 10-1 was the 2015-16 season.
“It’s a solid start and we have been pushed several times which is good for us,” Greenan said. “We had the one loss, but we used it to make us better and we just need to keep building.”
Chloé Cirotte and Emily Surcey were the only Bulldogs doubles tandem to pick up a win against Belmont, defeating the Bruins duo of Meredith Roberts and Taylor Trondson, 6-2.
Gia Cohen went straight into singles, evening the score with her 6-4, 6-1 victory over Abi Solomon.
Cirotte gave State the lead with a 6-2, 6-2 win against Viktoria Kliimand and was followed by Emmanoulea Antonaki with a 7-6(2), 6-4 victory over Mariia Hlahola.
Alexandra Mikhailuk came back from a 5-2 deficit in the first set by winning eleven straight points to clinch the match for the Bulldogs. Mikhailuk took the match 7-5, 6-0 over Anastasiya Zholdakova.
“We have a team of players that are willing to fight,” Greenan said. “I feel like we’re getting a little bit more organized as we get more confidence and more wins under our belt. We have to continue to get organized with our games and our focus when we’re out there competing.”
MSU took on Alabama A&M (1-3) later in the afternoon.
Maddie Bemisderfer and Maddie McKee made short work of Arianda Ondo Cerezo and Alicia Owegi with a 6-1 win. The win marks Bemisderfer’s and McKee’s second doubles win this season. Shortly after, Cohen and Dharani Niroshan clinched the doubles point with their victory over Deja Brown and Camilia Ruiz Diaz, 6-1.
Antonaki claimed the first singles win with a 6-0, 6-1 victory over Jasmine Boyd. Cirotte followed suit with a 6-0, 6-0 win over Brown.
Bemisderfer earned her third singles win of…
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