Mississippi State
Southern Cal
Bulldog Netmen Fall 6-1 At #6 Southern Cal To Open 2009 Season
January 30, 2009 | Men's Tennis
LOS ANGELES, Calif. - In a tough season-opening test against one of the nation's top teams in sixth-ranked Southern Cal, Mississippi State's men's tennis squad dropped a 6-1 decision to the Trojans Friday afternoon in the ITA Kickoff Weekend at the Marks Tennis Stadium on the USC campus.
The match opened with a nail-biting doubles point as USC edged the Bulldogs, winning on courts #1 and #3. The first completed match came on court #1 where second-ranked Trojans Robert Farah and Steve Johnson broke open a close start to down Bulldogs Chris Doerr and Tanner Stump 8-3. Mississippi State would respond on court #2 as Antonio Lastre and Daniel Sanchez topped Trojans Abdullah Magdas and Daniel Nguyen 8-6. Coming down to court #3, Trojans Andrew Kells and Jaak Poldma were able to outlast MSU's rookie tandem of Louis Cant and Artem Illyushin 9-7 in a tight battle, giving the Trojans the opening point of the match and momentum entering singles.
USC then dispatched MSU in straight sets in five of the six singles matches to secure the team victory. Giving the Trojans a 2-0 lead was Poldma, who downed State's rookie Sanchez 6-2, 6-3 at the No. 2 spot. Magdas, ranked 64th nationally, then completed a 6-2, 6-2 victory over the Bulldog freshman Cant at No. 4.
The match clincher would come at the top spot in the lineup, where USC's seventh-ranked Farah held off a first-set challenge from MSU senior Ryan Farlow to ultimately register a 6-4, 6-0 win.
USC won the next two matches complete as well. Jason McNaughton ousted Stump 6-1, 6-1 at No. 6 while the 58th-ranked Trojan Johnson bested the MSU newcomer Ilyushin 6-2, 6-2 at No. 3.
State's lone victory of the day was posted at the No. 5 position, where the sophomore Lastre rallied from behind to down USC's Nguyen 1-6, 7-6(0), 1-0(8).
"We knew this would be a tough matchup going in, but we played well in doubles and had some positives in singles as well," MSU head coach Per Nilsson said. "We just have to take the good things that happened in this match and move on to tomorrow."
State will now meet 49th-ranked St. Mary's in a consolation match Saturday evening at 7:30 p.m. CT.
#6 SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA 6, #56 MISSISSISSIPPI STATE 1
Los Angeles, Calif. ? 1/30/09
DOUBLES
#2 Robert Farah/Steve Johnson (USC) def. Chris Doerr/ Tanner Stump (MSU) 8-3; Antonio Lastre/Daniel Sanchez (MSU) def. Abdullah Magdas/Daniel Nguyen (USC) 8-6; Andrew Kells/Jaak Poldma (USC) def. Louis Cant/Artem Ilyushin (MSU) 9-7.
SINGLES
#7 Farah (USC) def. Farlow (MSU) 6-4, 6-0; Poldma (USC) def. Sanchez (MSU) 6-2, 6-3; #58 Johnson (USC) def. Ilyushin (MSU) 6-2, 6-2; #64 Magdas (USC) def. Cant (MSU) 6-2, 6-2; Lastre (MSU) def. Nguyen (USC) 1-6, 7-6(0), 1-0(8); Jason McNaughton (USC) def. Stump (MSU) 6-1, 6-1.
Players Mentioned
