Blue Raiders Fall 5-2 to No. 21 Mississippi State

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. - The 33rd-ranked Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders dropped a 5-2 decision to No. 21 Mississippi State Tuesday afternoon at the A.J. Pitts Tennis Centre in Starkville, Miss.

The Blue Raiders jumped out to an early lead by winning all three doubles points. The 56th-ranked duo of Daniel Klemetz and Kirk Jackson won 8-1 at No. 2 before 14th-ranked Oliver Foreman and Robert Gustafsson clinched the doubles point with an 8-5 victory over 18th-rated Romain Ambert and Rene-Charles Combette. MT's Trevor Short and Michael Staniak won 8-6 at No. 3 doubles.

But the homestanding Bulldogs rebounded to win five of the six singles matches, all in straight sets.

Jackson lost 6-2, 6-1 to Max Fomine at No. 6 before Staniak dropped a 6-2, 6-2 decision to Luiz Carvalho at No. 3. The 17th-ranked Klemetz claimed the only singles victory for the squad with a 6-2, 6-1 win over 10th-rated Ambert at No. 1, improving Klemetz's mark against ranked players this year to 13-6.

No. 85 Gustafsson lost 6-2, 6-2 to 75th-ranked Combette at No. 2 before MSU's Aymeric Henou clinched the match for the Bulldogs with a 6-2, 7-5 victory over Short at No. 5. Jerome Le Belicard defeated Foreman, 6-2, 6-4, at No. 3.

The Blue Raiders host South Alabama and Louisiana-Lafayettte this weekend at the Buck Bouldin Tennis Center. Friday's match against USA begins at 2 p.m., while Sunday's match gets underway at 1 p.m.

MATCH NOTES Today marked the 14th meeting between the teams in recorded history (since 1969) and the 12th in the last 12 years ... State now leads the series 14-0 in that period - The win assured State of its 14th consecutive winning season at home - Klemetz' win at No. 1 singles improved his dual match record to 12-1 this season - It marked only the third loss of the year for Ambert in team play (now 13-3) - Combette's win at No. 2 singles was his 11th win in his last 14 matches - Carvalho's win at No. 3 singles was his sixth triumph in seven outings - Fomine broke a four-match losing skid with his win at No. 6 singles - Le Belicard broke an eight-match losing skid with his win at No. 4 singles.

SINGLES
(17) Daniel Klemetz (MT) def. (10) Romain Ambert (MSU), 6-2, 6-1
(75) Rene-Charles Combette (MSU) def. (85) Robert Gustafsson (MT), 6-2, 6-2
Luiz Calvalho (MSU) def. Michael Staniak (MT), 6-2, 6-2
Jerome Le Belicard (MSU) def. Oliver Foreman (MT), 6-2, 6-4
Aymeric Henou (MSU) def. Trevor Short (MT), 6-2, 7-5
Max Fomine (MSU) def. Kirk Jackson (MT), 6-2, 6-1

DOUBLES
(14) Foreman-Gustafsson (MT) def. (18) Ambert-Combette (MSU), 8-5
(56) Klemetz-Jackson (MT) def. Fomine-Henou (MSU), 8-1
Short-Staniak (MT) def. Carvalho-Le Belicard (MSU), 8-6

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