Mississippi State
ITA All-American Championships
Trio Of Bulldogs Advance In Qualifying At ITA All-American
October 05, 2009 | Men's Tennis
TULSA, Okla. - Members of the Mississippi State men's tennis team concluded first-round qualifying action on Monday at the ITA All-American Championships, with three Bulldogs claiming wins to stay alive.
MSU's nationally ranked No. 83 sophomore Artem Ilyushin, moved to 4-0 in the fall season, defeating Stanford's 96th-ranked Ryan Thacher in three sets, 4-6, 7-6(5), 6-2, and will advance to the second round of qualifying to face Matt Brewer of Tennessee.
State's 109th-ranked sophomore George Coupland advanced with an upset win over No. 100 Tobias Fanselow of Old Dominion in straight sets, 6-2, 6-0. Coupland will have a round two showdown against 120th-ranked Anton Bobytskyi of Oklahoma State.
After making it out of the pre-qualifying round of the ITA All-American Championships, the Bulldogs' sophomore Louis Cant won his fourth-straight match in a three-day span, taking down Indiana's Jeremy Langer in a two-set battle, 7-5, 6-2. Cant will play Nick Meister of UCLA, who stands 57th nationally, in the second round of qualifying action.
MSU junior Antonio Lastre dropped his first match of the fall season to 91st-ranked Gregory Hirshman of Stanford in a close three-set bout, 6-2, 4-6, 6-3. Lastre had won four consecutive prequalifying matches over the weekend to reach Monday's action.
"Another great day with three wins," said head coach Per Nilsson. "Artem beat a great player coming from behind, he never quit and it paid off. Tony lost a close one at the end of the day. He (Lastre) had chances to do some things, but wasn't able to execute at the end."
MState's trio of Cant, Coupland and Ilyushin will resume play on Tuesday, looking to win two more matches to advance to the main draw of the tournament, which begins Thursday. The Bulldogs' doubles teams of Coupland and Ilyushin and Cant and Lastre will begin qualifying play on Tuesday as well.
D'NOVO/ITA ALL-AMERICAN CHAMPIONSHIPS
Tulsa, Okla. - 10/05/09
QUALIFYING - SINGLES
First Round - #83 Artem Ilyushin (MSU) def. #96 Ryan Thacher (Stanford) 4-6, 7-6(5), 6-2; #109 George Coupland (MSU) def. #100 Tobias Fanselow (Old Dominion) 6-2, 6-0; Louis Cant (MSU) def. Jeremy Langer (Indiana) 7-5, 6-2; #91 Gregory Hirshman (Stanford) def. Antonio Lastre (MSU) 6-2, 4-6, 6-3.
