STARKVILLE – Sunday was Mississippi State head coach Daryl Greenan’s birthday.

 

And Greenan’s women’s tennis team certainly gave him plenty to celebrate after the Bulldogs (9-8, 1-5 SEC) swept a doubleheader against No. 31 Alabama 4-2 and Alcorn State 4-1.

 

“It feels great,” Greenan said. “It is exactly what I wanted for my birthday.”

 

Despite losing the doubles point to the Crimson Tide (12-5, 2-3 SEC), Mississippi State fired back in singles to clinch a big Southeastern Conference win of the season.

 

“We competed well across the board as a team (on Friday) against Auburn and carried momentum from that match into today,” Greenan said. “Just because you had momentum from that match doesn’t mean you have it, you still have to go and earn it. Today was definitely a team effort against Alabama. We didn’t let losing the doubles point bother us. We have been there before and competed well. I’m proud of their effort today and it was just a big win for us at this point in the season.”

 

MSU’s Alexandra Mikhailuk earned a singles win over Anne Marie Hiser. Mikhailuk took the first set 7-5 and dominated in the second set 6-1 to get the Bulldogs first point on the board.

 

“Alex has been close so many times,” Greenan said. “Alex is riding a bit of momentum this weekend. It should give her some confidence. That win today will definitely be a boost of confidence for our team.”

 

No. 94 Emmanouela Antonaki and Marta Falceto earned their first SEC wins on the season. Antonaki defeated her 75^th-ranked opponent Loudmilla Bencheikh 6-1, 3-6, 6-3. It was her second ranked win during dual match season and fourth of the year.

 

“It felt good,” Antonaki. “The whole team needed that victory and me, individually. I was struggling a little bit in the beginning of SEC play. I lost five matches in a row so this win is going to push my confidence and make me compete again.”

 

Falceto dominated in the first set 6-2 against Kasia Pitak and took the match in the second set 6-5.

 

No. 116 Tamara Racine clinched the Bulldogs first SEC win. The Tide’s Ola Pitak took the first set 6-2 but Racine bounced back from a 2-1 deficit in the second set to win it 6-3. She continued her momentum in the third set by dominating Pitak 6-2.

 

After going down that early break in the second, Racine went on to claim 11 of the last 14 games to secure the match for the Bulldogs.

 

“It feels really good,” said Racine. “We really needed that win as a team because we have been struggling. Having that win was really powerful and great.”

 

Bulldog Tagliente played a close match against Anna Parkhomenko, but fell in a tight 7-5, 7-6(3) decision.

 

The Bulldog duo of Antonaki and Falceto won their first doubles SEC doubles win against Parkhomenko and Petra Sedlackova 6-1.

 

The Alabama tandem of Kisia Pitak and Ola Pitak defeated Mikhailuk and Tagliente 6-3. The doubles point came down to Court 1 where MSU’s Cirotte and Racine fell to 70^th-ranked duo of Bencheikh and Hiser 6-3.

 

Mississippi State 4, Alcorn State 1 

 

Mississippi State continued its hot streak into the afternoon with a 4-1 win against Alcorn State (4-12).

 

The Bulldogs started off strong by winning all three doubles points.

 

Cirotte and Racine dominated the Braves’ Kimberley Kaome and Mikaela Konstantinov 6-1. Alcorn State’s duo of Jamie Edwards and Stefany Grlj fell to Antonaki and Falceto 6-3 and got the Bulldogs the doubles point.

 

Mikhailuk and Tagliente also defeated Tangia Riley-Codrington and Aizat Zholdakayeva 6-3 to complete the doubles sweep.

 

The Bulldogs (10-8) won three singles matches to clinch their second win on the afternoon.

 

Cirotte dominated Andrea Quiroz 6-1, 6-0. With the victory, Cirotte earned her first career win at the No. 2 spot

 

Tagliente followed in suit with that win against Grlj 6-2, 6-1. It was Tagliente’s first career victory in the No. 4 spot. Falceto clinched the win for the Bulldogs by defeating Edwards 6-1, 6-4.

 

MSU only sent five players out for singles which resulted in the lone point for the Braves.

 

The Bulldogs go on the road at No. 45 South Carolina on Friday at 4 p.m. followed by a trek to 16^th-ranked Florida on Sunday at noon.

 

For more information on the Bulldog women’s tennis program, visit HailState.com or search for “HailStateWT” on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

 

Mississippi State 4, Alabama 2  

Starkville, Miss. | A.J. Pitts Tennis Centre   

Mar. 20, 2022  

 

Doubles  

1. #70 Loudmilla Bencheikh/Anne Marie Hiser (UA) def. Chloé Cirotte/Tamara Racine (MSU) 6-3
2. EmmanouelaAntonaki/Marta Falceto (MSU) def. Anna Parkhomenko/Petra Sedlackova (UA) 6-1
3. Kasia Pitak/Ola Pitak (UA) def.Alexandra Mikhailuk/Alessia Tagliente (MSU) 6-3

Order of finish: (2,3,1)

 

Singles  

1. #94 EmmanouelaAntonaki (MSU) def. #75 Loudmilla Bencheikh (UA) 6-1, 3-6, 6-3
2. #116 Tamara Racine (MSU) def. Ola Pitak (UA) 2-6, 6-3, 6-2
3. Chloé Cirotte (MSU) vs.#102 Petra Sedlackova (UA) 7-5, 1-6, 4-5, unfinished
4. Alexandra Mikhailuk (MSU) def. Anne Marie Hiser (UA) 7-5, 6-1
5. Anna Parkhomenko (UA) def. Alessia Tagliente (MSU) 7-5, 7-6 (7-3)
6. Marta Falceto (MSU) def. Kasia Pitak (UA) 6-2, 7-5

Order of finish: (4,6,1,5,2) 

 

Mississippi State 4, Alcorn State 1  

Starkville, Miss. | A.J. Pitts Tennis Centre   

Mar. 20, 2022  

 

Doubles  

1. Chloé Cirotte/Tamara Racine (MSU) def. Kimberley Kaome/Mikaela Konstantinov (ALCNW) 6-1
2. EmmanouelaAntonaki/Marta Falceto (MSU) def. Jaime Edwards/Stefany Grlj (ALCNW) 6-3
3. Alexandra Mikhailuk/Alessia Tagliente (MSU) def. Tangia Riley-Codring/Aizat Zholdakayeva (ALCNW) 6-3

Order of finish: (1,2,3)

 

Singles 

1. #94 EmmanouelaAntonaki (MSU) vs. Mikaela Konstantinov (ALCNW) 1-6, 6-1, 5-0, unfinished
2. Chloé Cirotte (MSU) def. Andrea Quiroz (ALCNW) 6-1, 6-0
3. #116 Alexandra Mikhailuk (MSU) vs. Kimberley Kaome (ALCNW) 6-3, 5-1, unfinished
4. Alessia Tagliente (MSU) def. Stefany Grlj (ALCNW) 6-2, 6-1
5. Marta Falceto (MSU) def. Jaime Edwards (ALCNW) 6-1, 6-4
6. Aizat Zholdakayeva (ALCNW) def. No player (MSU), by default

Order of finish: (6,4,2,5)