Mississippi State
Auburn
MSU Men's Tennis Falls In Opening Round Of SEC Tournament To Host Auburn
April 23, 2009 | Men's Tennis
AUBURN, Ala. ? The 63rd-ranked Mississippi State men's tennis team fell as the 10th seed in the opening round of the 2009 SEC Tournament to the hosting seventh-seeded Auburn Tigers, who are ranked 19th nationally, 4-1.
MSU fell to 6-15 on the season while Auburn advanced to 13-9 on the season. The Tigers also snapped a two-match skid they had to the Bulldogs.
The Tigers jumped out to a 1-0 lead after claiming a close doubles point, with the Bulldog tandem of sophomore Antonio Lastre and true freshman Daniel Sanchez falling first at the No. 2 position to Auburn's duo of Milan Krnjetin and Michel Monteiro, 8-4. The Tigers clinched the point at the No. 1 position when MSU's junior Chris Doerr and sophomore Tannner Stump slipped up against the Tiger team of Lukas Marsoun and Alex Stamchev, 8-6. State's true freshman tandem of Louis Cant and Artem Ilyushin trailed 8-7 to AU's duo of Alex Petropoulos and Alexey Tsyrenov.
MSU would rebound strongly winning the opening four sets in singles action. Doerr of State evened the score with a commanding win at No. 6, claiming the first eight games and taking down Monteiro of Auburn, 6-0, 6-2.
Auburn would respond to State's strong push winning the next three points, with the Bulldogs' Cant's slip up to Tiger Stamchev, 6-1, 6-3, at the No. 3 spot, beginning the Tiger streak. Next 93rd-ranked Ilyushin of MSU fell at the No. 2 position 6-2, 7-6(4), to Auburn's Marsoun.
The Tigers would clinch the match at the No. 1 position with MSU's 95th-ranked senior Ryan Farlow falling from an early lead to No. 34 Alexey Tsyrenov, 3-6, 6-2, 6-1.
MSU led at the No. 4 and No. 5 positions when play was suspended, with State's Sanchez controlling a one-set lead over AU's Krnjetin at No. 4, 6-4, 6-6, and Lastre of the Bulldogs holding onto a one-set lead at the No. 5 slot against Auburn's Petropoulos, 7-5, 4-3.
#19 AUBURN 4, #63 MISSISSIPPI STATE 1
Auburn, Ala. ? 4/23/09
DOUBLES ? Lukas Marsoun/Alex Stamchev (AU) def. Chris Doerr/Tanner Stump (MSU) 8-6; Milan Krnjetin/Michel Monteiro (AU) def. Antonio Lastre/Daniel Sanchez (MSU) 8-4; Louis Cant/Artem Ilyushin (MSU) vs. Alex Petropoulos/Alexey Tsyrenov (AU), 7-8, susp.
SINGLES ? #34 Tsyrenov (AU) def. #95 Ryan Farlow (MSU) 3-6, 6-2, 6-1; Marsoun (AU) def. #93 Ilyushin (MSU) 6-2, 7-6(4); Stamchev (AU) def. Cant (MSU) 6-1, 6-3; Sanchez (MSU) vs. Krnjetin (AU) 6-4, 6-6, susp.; Lastre (MSU) vs. Petropoulos (AU) 7-5, 4-3, susp.; Doerr (MSU) def. Monteiro (AU) 6-0, 6-2.
Order of Finish: Doubles ? 2, 1; Singles -6,3,2,1.
Players Mentioned
