Mississippi State
Ole Miss
Bulldog Netmen Give #9 Rebels A Handful In 4-2 Loss In River Hills Cup
February 05, 2009 | Men's Tennis
The Rebels (4-0) took the opening point of the evening in a closely contested doubles point. After the top-ranked Rebel duo of Jonas Berg and Bram ten Berge ousted Bulldogs Chris Doerr and Tanner Stump 8-2 at the No. 1 position, State evened things with an 8-3 win from Antonio Lastre and Daniel Sanchez at No. 2. On court three, the true freshmen Bulldog tandem of Louis Cant and Artem Ilyushin trailed 7-4 to Rebels Christoph and Tucker Vorster, but broke back to 7-6. However, the UM duo broke State in the final game to take the No. 3 match and the doubles point for a 1-0 lead.
UM came out strong early in singles, gaining a 3-0 lead with straight-set wins at the No. 2 and 3 positions. On court 2, the 28th-ranked Rebel Berg downed MSU's Sanchez 6-2, 6-3, while No. 56 Kalle Norberg ousted the Bulldog Cant 6-3, 6-1 at No. 3.
At that point, it looked as if the Rebels were going to close out the Bulldogs in a shut out as UM's Britton led State's Ryan Farlow 5-4 in the third set on court No. 1 in a battle of former
That win would extend play in the match as the 4-6 positions took the court to do battle and battle they would do, for another three-plus hours.
In hard-hitting and very close affair, MSU's Lastre finally finished off Ole Miss' Christoph Thiemann 7-6(5), 6-3 at the No. 5 position to trim the Rebel lead to 3-2.
When that match finished, the Rebels held leads at the final two positions on court and would ultimately get the clinching victory they needed at the No. 6 spot where UM's Sauer edged MSU's Doerr 7-6(4), 6-4, in a very intense matchup.
The final match of the day between the Bulldog rookie Ilyuishin and Rebel senior ten Berge was suspended at that point with UM leading 4-3 in the third set.
“Our guys gave everything they had tonight against another great Ole Miss team. We certainly had a chance to pull this out and that's all we can ask against a team of that caliber,” MSU head coach Per Nilsson said. “I was extremely proud for Ryan in his win. That was a marquee matchup between two guys who grew up in this area and he really worked hard to pull out a big win against a great opponent.
“We are learning every day and growing. We are beginning to see improvements and show that we can compete with anyone in the country if we work hard enough on every single point.”
State's next action will be Sunday, February 15, when the Bulldogs open their 2009 home slate at the A.J. Pitts Tennis Centre against UAB at 1 p.m.
#9 OLE MISS 4, #52
February 5, 2009 ?
DOUBLES ? #1 Jonas Berg/Bram ten Berg (UM) def. Chris Doerr/Tanner Stump (MSU) 8-2; Antonio Lastre/Daniel Sanchez (MSU) def. Devin Britton/Otto Sauer (UM) 8-3; Christoph Thiemann/Tucker Vorster (UM) def. Louis Cant/Artem Ilyushin (MSU) 8-6.
SINGLES ? Ryan Farlow (MSU) def. Britton (UM) 6-1, 3-6, 7-6(5); #28 Berg (UM) def. Sanchez (MSU) 6-2, 6-3; #56 Kalle Norberg (UM) def. Cant (MSU) 6-3, 6-1; Ilyushin (MSU) vs. #89 ten Berge (UM) 6-3, 3-6, 3-4, susp.; Lastre (MSU) def. C. Thiemann (UM) 7-6(5), 6-3; Sauer (UM) def. Doerr (MSU) 7-6(4), 6-4.
(numbers preceding names are current national rankings)
Players Mentioned
