Mississippi State
ITA Southern Region Indoor Championships
State Tennis Advances To Singles Finals and Doubles Semis At ITA Southern Regionals
October 24, 2009 | Men's Tennis
Coupland advanced to the semifinal round after he upended teammate and fellow Bulldog, Ilyushin, who stands 83rd nationally, in three-set battle, 2-6, 6-1, 6-3. Later on in his semifinal matchup, State's Coupland defeated LSU's Sebastian Carlsson in straight sets, 6-1, 6-3. Coupland now faces 54th-ranked Tim Puetz of Auburn in the finals of the ITA Southern Regionals, for a bid to the ITA Intercollegiate Indoor Championships that will be played in New Haven, Conn., at Yale University beginning on Nov. 5.
MSU's sophomore Louis Cant had his three-match win-streak broken in his quarterfinal match against Auburn's second-seeded Puetz, 7-6(3), 6-2.
"Our goal was to win the tournament and we had a few players that had a chance to do that," said head coach Per Nilsson. "It is unfortunate Artem (Ilyusyhin) and George (Coupland) had to play in the quarterfinals, but tomorrow George will have a chance to win the singles and we would like to get into the doubles finals as well."
The team of Coupland and Ilyushin for State advanced to the semifinals in doubles after winning their quarterfinals match 8-4, over UAB's Danny Manlow and Daniel Moser.
The Bulldogs' Coupland will serve up in his finals matchup tomorrow at 9 a.m., followed by the Bulldogs competing in semifinals doubles action.
ITA SOUTHERN REGIONALS
New Orleans, La. - 10/24/09
SINGLES
Quarterfinals - #109 George Coupland (MSU) def. #83 Artem Ilyushin (MSU) 2-6, 6-1, 6-3; #54 Tim Puetz (Auburn) def. Louis Cant (MSU) 7-6(3), 6-2.
Semifinals - #109 Coupland (MSU) def. Sebastian Carlsson (LSU) 6-1, 6-3.
DOUBLES
Quarterfinals - Coupland/Ilyushin (MSU) def. Danny Manlow/Daniel Moser (UAB) 8-4.
