Mississippi State
East Tennessee State
MState Tennis Concludes Northwest Tour With 5-2 Win Over ETSU
February 06, 2010 | Men's Tennis
SEATTLE, Wash. - Despite dropping the opening two points of the match, the 61st-ranked Mississippi State men's tennis team made an impressive comeback to defeat No. 60 East Tennessee State Buccaneers, 5-2. With the win, MSU concluded play at the Great Northwest Shootout in Seattle, Wash., with a 1-1 ledger, and evened their record to .500 on the season with a mark of 3-3.
The Buccaneers took control of the match early winning a competitive doubles point battle. MSU took a one-match lead in the doubles point with the Bulldog tandem of Antonio Lastre and Daniel Sanchez taking down the No. 52 doubles team in the country, Jesus Bandres and Sander Gille, 8-5, at the No. 2 slot. ETSU then won the next two matches to claim the doubles point, first coming from the No. 1 spot, where MSU duo George Coupland and Artem Ilyushin slipped up 8-5 to Buccaneers' Charles Bottoni and Grega Teraz. In a tiebreaking battle at the No. 3 position, State's team of Louis Cant and Chris Doerr fell to Robin Akser and Daniel Isaza of ETSU, 9-8(5), to clinch the doubles point for ETSU, giving the Buccaneers a 1-0 lead in the match.
ETSU increased their lead to 2-0, with a win at the No. 1 spot, where 125th-ranked Ilyushin of MSU lost in a two-set bout to ETSU's No. 82 ranked Teraz, 6-3, 6-2.
The Bulldogs would rebound to even the score with wins at the No. 5 and No. 6 positions, with State's sophomore Max Gregor Smith earning MSU's first point of the match at the No. 5 slot. Smith took down Buccaneer Akser, in a three-set match, 6-3, 1-6, 6-1. Bulldog sophomore Sanchez won his second-straight match following his win over Juan Ramirez of ETSU, 7-6(5), 6-2, at No. 6.
Playing at the No. 2 slot, MState's No. 42 nationally ranked Coupland defeated 89th-ranked Buccaneer Bottoni in three-sets, 6-4, 3-6, 6-4, to give MSU its first lead of the match, 3-2.
State's Cant was the match-clinching point for the Bulldogs with his come-from-behind three-set victory at the No. 3 position over ETSU's Gille. Cant dropped the first set in a close tiebreaker, 6-7(4), but bounced back to blank Gille in the second set, 6-0, and eventually clinching the match with a 6-4 win in the third set. Cant improved his perfect dual match record to 6-0.
MSU's Lastre tallied the Bulldogs final point of the match with an impressive come-from-behind three-set win at the No. 4 spot over No. 51 nationally ranked Bandres of ETSU, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4. It was Lastre's second-career win over a ranked opponent and was the highest ranked win for the junior from Malaga, Spain.
"We had match point to win the doubles point and lost it, which makes it very hard to win a match" said head coach Per Nilsson. "But our guys continued to fight hard and we played much better than we have been. East Tennessee State is a very good team and we earned this win today."
The Bulldogs will take a break from dual match action until Feb. 19, when MSU will play host to UAB in its home opener.
#61 MISSISSIPPI STATE 5, #60 EAST TENNESSEE STATE 2
Great Northwest Shootout - 2/6/10
DOUBLES
No. 1: Charles Bottoni/Grega Teraz (ETSU) def. George Coupland/Artem Ilyushin (MSU) 8-5; No. 2: Antonio Lastre/Daniel Sanchez (MSU) def. #52 Jesus Bandres/Sander Gille (ETSU) 8-5; No. 3: Robin Akser/Daniel Isaza (ETSU) def. Louis Cant/Chris Doerr (MSU) 9-8(5) (Order of Finish: 2,1,3).
SINGLES
No. 1: #82 Teraz (ETSU) def. #125 Ilyushin (MSU) 6-3, 6-2; No. 2: #42 Coupland (MSU) def. #89 Bottoni (ETSU) 6-4, 3-6, 6-4; No. 3: Cant (MSU) def. Gille (ETSU) 6-7(4), 6-0, 6-4; No. 4: Lastre (MSU) def. #51 Bandres (ETSU) 4-6, 6-4, 6-4; No. 5: Max Gregor Smith (MSU) def. Akser (ETSU) 6-3, 1-6, 6-1; No. 6: Sanchez (MSU) def. Juan Ramirez (ETSU) 7-6(5), 6-2 (Order of Finish: 1,5,6,2,3,4).
Players Mentioned
