Mississippi State
UAB
Bulldogs Claim Home Opener Over UAB, 6-1
February 19, 2010 | Men's Tennis
"It is great to be back home and it was beautiful weather for us today," said head coach Per Nilsson. "This was our first outdoors match of the season and I think we are a better team when we play outdoors and it showed today with how we played."
It was MSU's 17th-straight win over the Blazers and MSU improved to 25-1 all-time against UAB. The 6-1 margin was the largest by the Maroon and White since Feb. 22 of last season, when State defeated the visiting Georgia State Panthers, 6-1.
State jumped out to an early 1-0 lead after they swept the doubles point. Bulldog duo Louis Cant and Chris Doerr got the first win in doubles for MSU, taking down UAB's Tom Puetz and David Zimmerman, 8-3, at the No. 3 spot. MSU's team of Antonio Lastre and Daniel Sanchez clinched the doubles point for the Maroon and White at the No. 2 slot with an 8-4 win over Blazers tandem Danny Manlow and Daniel Moser. State completed the hat trick at No. 1 position after MState's George Coupland and Artem Ilyushin won 8-6 over Dan Cornei and Alex Emery of UAB.
State sophomore Daniel Sanchez extended the Bulldog lead to 2-0, by winning handily at the No. 6 position, taking down UAB's Puetz, 6-4, 6-1. The victory gives Sanchez three-straight wins and improved to 3-1 in dual match action. MSU sophomore Ilyushin shortly followed Sanchez with a 6-1, 6-2 win at the No. 2 spot over Cornei of UAB, to give the Bulldogs the 3-0 lead.
For the second time this season Lastre clinched the match for the Maroon and White from the No. 4 position, defeating UAB's Moser in straight sets, 6-2, 6-3. Lastre stands at No. 122 nationally and improved his dual match record to 5-2.
The Blazers got onto the scoreboard when MSU's 85th-ranked Coupland slipped up in a battle at the No. 1 slot to Manlow of UAB, 6-2, 6-4.
In the final two matches of the day MSU gritted out a couple of come-from-behind wins at the No. 3 and No. 5 positions. At No. 3, MSU's Cant improved his perfect dual match record to a team-best 7-0 this season, by taking down UAB's Zimmerman, 7-6(4), 7-5. Cant trailed Zimmerman, who was 5-0 on the season entering the match, 4-1 in the second set but rebounded and claimed four-straight games to take the lead and eventually win the set and the match.
Sophomore Max Gregor Smith capped off the match for MSU with an identical-set victory over Emery of UAB, 7-5, 7-5. Similar to his teammate Cant, Smith trailed 4-1 in the first set before notching four-straight games and eventually claiming the set.
The Bulldogs will have a quick turnaround in their schedule, as MSU will play host to the 62nd-ranked Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders tomorrow, Feb. 20 at 1 p.m. Admission is free to all MSU home tennis matches and live stats will be available at www.mstateathletics.com.
MISSISSIPPI STATE 6, UAB 1
Starkville, Miss. - 2/19/10
DOULBES
No. 1 - George Coupland/Artem Ilyushin (MSU) def. Dan Cornei/Alex Emery (UAB) 8-6; No. 2 - Antonio Lastre/Daniel Sanchez (MSU) def. Danny Manlow/Daniel Moser (UAB) 8-4; No. 3 - Louis Cant/Chris Doerr (MSU) def. Tom Puetz/David Zimmerman (UAB) 8-3 (Order of Finish:3,2,1 ).
SINGLES
No. 1 - Manlow (UAB) def. #85 Coupland (MSU) 6-2, 6-4; No. 2 - Ilyushin (MSU) def. Cornei (UAB) 6-1, 6-2; No. 3 - #64 Cant (MSU) def. Zimmerman (UAB) 7-6(4), 7-5; No. 4 - #122 Lastre (MSU) def. Moser (UAB) 6-2, 6-3; No. 5 - Max Gregor Smith (MSU) def. Emery (UAB) 7-5, 7-5; No. 6 - Sanchez (MSU) def. Puetz (UAB) 6-4, 6-1 (Order of Finish:6,2,1,4,3,5).
Players Mentioned
