Mississippi State
LSU
State Tennis Fall In Tough 4-3 Loss At Home To LSU
March 12, 2010 | Men's Tennis
"We let the match slip away similar to some earlier matches," said third-year head coach Per Nilsson. "It is tough for the guy, but they know things can turn around quickly."
The 4-3 setback was the second of its kind from MSU's in its last three outings (State fell 4-3 at Kentucky on Mar. 5) and the second time the Bulldogs lost control of a 3-0 lead (MSU lost 4-3 after leading 3-0 to Ole Miss on Jan. 25 in the River Hills Cup).
For only the second time this season MSU swept the double point, while Bulldog tandem Louis Cant and Chris Doerr led the way with their 8-4 win over the Tiger duo Olivier Borsos and Stefan Szacinski at the No. 3 position. Cant and Doerr are winners in four of their last five outings. At the No. 2 spot, MSU's Antonio Lastre and Daniel Sanchez took down Sebastian Carlsson and Julien Gauthier of LSU, 8-5, giving the MState tandem their first conference victory of the season and snapping a two-match losing skid. Helping the Bulldogs earn the hat trick in doubles was George Coupland and Artem Ilyushin, who won their second conference match of the season, 8-6, over Tiger tandem Roger Anderson and Neal Skupski.
Entering singles play with a 1-0 lead, MSU's 101st-ranked Coupland snapped a two-match losing streak and gave the Bulldogs a 2-0 lead by defeating Szacinski of LSU in straight sets at the No. 3 slot, 6-3, 6-2. It was also the sophomore from Hatfield, England's first career SEC victory.
Bulldog senior Chris Doerr extended MState's lead to 3-0, with a straight-set win of his own over Borsos of the Tigers, 6-2, 7-5, from the No. 6 spot.
MSU's slipup began at the No. 5 position when Sanchez of MSU lost his first match in eight previous outings to Bowtell of LSU, 6-4, 6-2. Bulldog super sophomore Cant, who stands No. 100 nationally lost only his second match of the season to the Tigers' 44th-ranked Skupski at the No. 1 spot, 6-4, 7-6(4). MState's Lastre took an early one-set lead at the No. 4 spot before eventually slipping up to Gauthier of LSU, 1-6, 7-5, 6-0.
With the score tied 3-3, all eyes turned to court No. 2 where MSU's Ilyushin had a hard-fought three set battle with LSU's Carlsson. Ilyushin won the first set 6-3, then dropped a very tight tiebreaker in the second set, 6-7(7), and eventually fell 6-3 in the final set, clinching the match for the visiting Tigers.
The Bulldogs will look to rebound this Sunday, Mar. 14 at 10 a.m., when they play host to the 42nd-ranked Arkansas Razorbacks. The Hogs enter Sunday's match with an 8-5 overall record, 1-2 in conference action and most recently fell to 15th-ranked Ole Miss. Admissions is free to all MSU home tennis matches, which are held at the A.J. Pitts Tennis Centre and live stats will be available at www.mstateathletics.com.
#62 LSU 4, #49 MISSISSIPPI STATE 3
Starkville, Miss. - 3/12/10
DOUBLES
No. 1 - George Coupland/Artem Ilyushin (MSU) def. Roger Anderson/Neal Skupski (LSU) 8-6;No. 2 - Antonio Lastre/Daniel Sanchez (MSU) def. Sebastian Carlsson/Julien Gauthier (LSU) 8-5;No. 3 - Louis Cant/Chris Doerr (MSU) def. Olivier Borsos/Stefan Szacinski (LSU) 8-4 (Order of Finish:3,2,1 ).
SINGLES
No. 1 - #44 Skupski (LSU) def. #100 Cant (MSU) 6-4, 7-6(4); No. 2 - Carlsson (LSU) def. Ilyushin (MSU) 3-6, 7-6(7), 6-3; No. 3 - #101 Coupland (MSU) def. Szacinski (LSU) 6-3, 6-2; No. 4 - Gauthier (LSU) def. Lastre (MSU) 1-6, 7-5, 6-0; No. 5 - Bowtell (LSU) def. Sanchez (MSU) 6-4, 6-2; No. 6 - Doerr (MSU) def. Borsos (LSU) 6-2, 7-5 (Order of Finish:3,6,5,1,4,2 ).
Players Mentioned
