Mississippi State
Ole Miss
Bulldog Tennis Falls In 4-3 Heartbreaker To #10 Rebels At River Hills Cup
January 25, 2010 | Men's Tennis
The Bulldogs built a 3-0 lead in the contest and appeared to have momentum on their side before the Rebels would catch a second wind and charge back for the incredible come-from-behind victory over the Bulldogs.
To start things off in the contest, the Maroon and White were able to claim a very tight doubles point to take an early 1-0 lead. The MSU tandem of Louis Cant and Chris Doerr gave State the early advantage for the doubles point with their 8-5 takedown of Rebels' Harry Fowler and Adrian Forberg Skogeng at the No. 3 position. Ole Miss was able to even things up in doubles when MSU's Antonio Lastre and Daniel Sanchez slipped up to the No. 2 Rebel duo of Chris and Marcel Thiemann, 8-5. MSU's No. 1 team of George Coupland and Artem Ilyushin then gave State the 1-0 advantage after they defeated Ole Miss' Jonas Lutjen and Tucker Vorster, 8-6.
State was able to take a commanding 3-0 lead in the match with a pair of solid two-set victories. First, MSU's 125th-ranked Ilyushin won a gutsy 6-3, 7-5 affair at the No. 3 slot over Ole Miss' Lutjen. Shortly following at the No. 1 position, the Bulldog sophomore Cant upset the 49th-ranked Rebel Vorster in straight sets, 6-4, 7-5, in a similar gut-wrenching effort, coming back from 5-3 down in the second set for the win.
But then the Rebels began to make their charge back into contention. It appeared as if State's Coupland, who is No. 42 nationally, was going to rally from a second-set deficit to claim victory at the No. 2 position - leading by a set and 4-2 in a second-set tiebreaker - but 61st-ranked Rebel Marcel Thiemann rallied back to force a third set and ultimately win 6-7(4), 7-6(5), 6-2, to trim the State lead to 3-1.
The Rebels then inched closer after MState's Lastre lost in identical sets to UM's Sokgeng, 6-3, 6-3 at the No. 4 position.
UM would tie things up in a very dramatic match at the No. 5 slot. MSU's Doerr built a one-set lead, before eventually relinquishing the match to the Rebels' Fowler, 3-6, 7-6(6), 6-3. Doerr held one match point in the second-set tiebreaker, but Fowler was able to hold service on that point to ultimately extend the affair to the decisive third set.
The match clinching point was then decided at the No. 6 position, where Chris Thiemann of Ole Miss handed MSU's Sanchez a two-set loss, 6-2, 6-4.
"The good news is this is the first match of the season and not the last," said head coach Per Nilsson. "We played very hard, but did not play well and we still have a lot of improvement to make to reach our potential."
The Bulldogs will return to action when they travel to Boston, Mass., to participate in the Harvard Kickoff Tournament, beginning on Friday, Jan. 30.
RIVER HILLS CUP - #10 OLE MISS 4, #67 MISSISSIPPI STATE 3
Jackson, Miss. - 1/25/10
DOUBLES - #1 - George Coupland/Artem Ilyushin (MSU) def. Jonas Lutjen/Tucker Vorster (Ole Miss) 8-6; #2 - Chris Thiemann/Marcel Thiemann (Ole Miss) def. Antonio Lastre/Daniel Sanchez (MSU) 8-5; #3 - Louis Cant/Chris Doerr (MSU) def. Harry Fowler/Adrian Forberg Skogeng (Ole Miss) 8-5; (Order of Finish: 3,2,1).
SINGLES - #1 - Cant (MSU) def. #49 Vorster (Ole Miss) 6-4, 7-5; #2 - #61 M. Thiemann (Ole Miss) def. #42 Coupland (MSU) 6-7(4), 7-6(5), 6-2; #3 - #125 Ilyushin (MSU) def. Lutjen (Ole Miss) 6-3, 7-5; #4 -Skogeng (Ole Miss) def. Lastre (MSU) 6-3, 6-3; #5 - Fowler (Ole Miss) def. Doerr (MSU) 3-6, 7-6(6), 6-3; #6 -C. Thiemann (Ole Miss) def. Sanchez (MSU) 6-2, 6-4; (Order of Finish: 3,1,2,4,5,6).
