Mississippi State
South Carolina
Mississippi State Men's Tennis Falls Short At No. 16 South Carolina, 4-2
March 27, 2009 | Men's Tennis
COLUMBIA, S.C. ? The Mississippi State men's tennis team fell short, 4-2, in its upset effort at No. 16 South Carolina Friday in a match that was played in USC's Indoor Tennis Facility due to inclement weather conditions.
With the setback, MSU fell to 5-9 overall, 1-4 in Southeastern Conference play. USC improved to 15-3, 3-2 in the league.
The Gamecocks jumped out to a 1-0 lead early claiming the doubles point when their 29th-ranked duo of Diego Cubas and Ivan Macado took down MSU's Chris Doerr and Tanner Stump, 8-2, at the No. 1 position. Shortly following, the Bulldog tandem of Ryan Farlow and Antonio Lastre fell to Jaime Cuellar and Johannes Pulsfort of USC at the No. 3 spot, 8-3. Playing at No. 2 was State's freshman combo of Louis Cant and Artem Ilyushin against the Gamecocks' Pedro Campos and Ivan Cressoni, a match that was suspended with USC leading 7-5.
South Carolina was able to take a 2-0 lead over MState when Cuellar took a two-set match from Cant of MSU, 6-0, 7-5, at the No. 3 spot. MSU answered when its lone senior, the 108th-ranked Farlow, added another impressive upset effort to his resume with his two-set takedown of USC's No. 50 Cubas, 7-5, 6-3, at the No. 1 position.
Things appeared to be under control for the homestanding Gamecocks, when they won at the No. 2 slot. There, State's Ilyushin nearly split sets, but ultimately fell in a solid two-set effort to the 115th-ranked Campos 6-1, 7-6(4), giving SC a 3-1 lead over MSU.
But the Bulldog sophomore Lastre pushed MSU back into contention with his three-set victory over Machado, 6-4, 2-6, 7-6(4), at the No. 4 spot to trim the deficit to 3-2.
However, the Gamecocks finally claimed the match at the No. 5 spot, when Pulsfort downed State's Doerr, claiming four of the last five games in the second set for a 6-2, 7-5 win.
MSU's Stump had a second-set lead at the No. 6 position over SC's Cressoni, when play was suspended at that point with Cressoni leading 6-4, 4-5.
“It was tough to see our guys work hard to come from behind and then fall short,” said
MSU will return home this Sunday, looking to rebound against another tough foe in No. 7 Florida. Match time is set for 1 p.m. CT at the A.J. Pitts Tennis Centre on campus.
#16 SOUTH CAROLINA 4, #55 MISSISSIPPI STATE 2
Columbia, S.C. ? 3/27/09
DOUBLES - #29 Diego
SINGLES - #108 Farlow (MSU) def. #50 Cubas (USC) 7-5, 6-3; #115 Campos (USC) def. Ilyushin (MSU) 6-1, 7-6(4); Cuellar (USC) def. Cant (MSU) 6-0, 7-5; Lastre (MSU) def. Machado (USC) 6-4, 2-6, 7-6(4); Pulsfort (USC) def. Doerr (MSU) 6-2, 7-5; Stump (MSU) vs. Cressoni (USC) 4-6, 5-4, suspended.
Order of Finish: Doubles ? 1, 3; Singles ? 3, 1, 2, 4, 5
Players Mentioned
