Mississippi State
DePaul
MState Tennis Picks Up First Win Of Season Over DePaul
January 29, 2010 | Men's Tennis
With the win the Bulldogs improve to 1-1 on the season, and was MSU's first shutout victory since Jan. 31 of last season, when MState blanked Saint Mary's.
"I thought we did a good job keeping our focus all the way through the match," said head coach Per Nilsson. "We need to maintain that focus throughout the weekend."
For the second-straight match, MSU claimed the doubles point to take an early 1-0 lead. The Maroon and White duo of George Coupland and Artem Ilyushin took down DePaul's doubles team Ben Hartman and Bartosz Jozwiak, 8-4 at the No. 1. With the win Coupland and Ilyushin improved to 2-0 in dual match play. Also remaining perfect in doubles' dual match action was MSU's No. 3 tandem Louis Cant and Chris Doerr, who clinched the doubles point for the Bulldogs with their 9-7 victory over Blue Demons Mathias Hambach and Matija Palinic. At the No. 2 position, State's Antonio Lastre and Daniel Sanchez led Alasdair Graetz and Douglas Perrin of DePaul 7-4 when the doubles point was decided.
MSU's 125th-ranked Ilyushin extended State's lead to 2-0, when he won in straight sets over DePaul's Palinic at the No. 3 slot, 6-3, 6-4. At the No. 2 spot, MState's sophomore Cant continues his strong season with a 6-2, 6-1, win over Blue Demon, Hartman. Clinching the match for the Maroon and White was Lastre, who won a two-set battle at the No. 4 position over DePaul's Hambach, 7-5, 6-2.
When the match was clinched for MSU, State's Coupland had a one-set lead at the No. 1 spot over Jozwiak of DePaul, MSU sophomore Max Gregor Smith was up one set over Blue Demon Vanja Grgec and MState's lone senior Doerr was up 4-2 in the third set over DePaul's Graetz.
MSU will continue dual match action at the Harvard Kickoff Tournament tomorrow when they serve up against #62 BYU and 61st-ranked host-school Harvard.
#67 MISSISSIPPI STATE 4, DePAUL 0
Harvard Kickoff Tournament - 1/29/10
DOUBLES - No. 1 - George Coupland/Artem Ilyushin (MSU) def. Ben Hartman/Bartosz Jozwiak (DePaul) 8-4; No. 2 - Antonio Lastre/Daniel Sanchez (MSU) vs. Alasdair Graetz/Douglas Perrin (DePaul) 7-4, susp.; No. 3 - Louis Cant/Chris Doerr (MSU) def. Mathias Hambach/Matija Palinic (DePaul) 9-7 (Order of Finish: 1,3).
SINGLES - No. 1 - #42 Coupland (MSU) vs. Jozwiak (DePaul) 7-5, 4-4; No. 2 - Cant (MSU) def. Hartman (DePaul) 6-2, 6-1; No. 3 - #125 Ilyushin (MSU) def. Palinic (DePaul) 6-3, 6-4; No. 4 - Lastre (MSU) def. Hambach (DePaul) 7-5, 6-2; No. 5 - Max Gregor Smith (MSU) vs. Vanja Grgec (DePaul) 6-4, 4-3; No. 6 - Doerr (MSU) vs. Graetz (DePaul) 4-6, 6-1, 4-2 (Order of Finish: 3,2,4).
