Mississippi State
Vanderbilt
MSU Tennis Slips Up In Tought Battle At #30 Vanderbilt
March 07, 2010 | Men's Tennis
"We were serving for the match twice at the six position and had two match points at the number one spot, so we are putting ourselves in a position to win the match but we have to get over the hump," said head coach Per Nilsson. "We have had match points against three very good teams (Ole Miss, Kentucky and Vanderbilt), but we have to get over that hump."
MState fell behind early, trailing Vanderbilt, 1-0, after getting swept in the doubles point. The Bulldog duo of Antonio Lastre and Daniel Sanchez dropped an 8-5 decision at the No. 2 spot to Vandy's Ryan Lipman and Bryant Salcedo. MSU tandem Louis Cant and Chris Doerr had their three-match win streak snapped as they fell to Alex DiValerio and Vijay Paul of the Commodores, 8-4, at the No. 3 spot. State's team of George Coupland and Artem Ilyushin were coming off an upset victory over Kentucky's 15th-ranked doubles team, but dropped a tight tiebreaking match at the No. 1 spot to Vandy's Adam Baker and Alex Zotov, 8-7(5).
Bulldog's Ilyushin helped State even the score at one-a-piece, by winning in straight sets at the No. 2 position over Vanderbilt's Salcedo, 6-4, 6-3, giving Ilyushin his first win in conference play and is also a winner in four of his last five matches.
Vanderbilt would claim the next two points at the No. 3 and No. 4 spots to take a 3-1 lead. First at the No. 4 slot, State's Lastre fell in a two-set bout to Zotov of the Commodores, 6-4, 6-1. No. 101 Coupland of MState dropped a straight-set decision at the No. 3 position, 6-2, 7-6(5), to Vanderbilt's Paul, giving the Commodores the two point lead.
State would move closer to Vanderbilt, earning its second point of the match at the No. 5 spot, where MSU's Sanchez won his seventh-straight match and improved to 2-0 in league play, taking down Vandy's Baker in a three-set battle, 7-6(3), 4-6, 6-2.
Needing wins at the No. 1 and No. 6 spots to win the match, State appeared in a position to squeeze out the victory, but eventually the Bulldogs dropped two third-set tiebreakers which gave the Commodores the win. At the No. 6 position, MSU's Doerr slipped up 6-4, 5-7, 7-6(2), to DiValerio of Vandy. 100th-ranked Bulldog Cant was fresh off his upset win over No. 8 Eric Quigley of Kentucky, and appeared to be on pace of another upset win playing at the No. 1 spot against 48th-ranked Lipman of the Commodores, before eventually falling in a three-set decision. Cant took a set lead over Lipman, 7-5, but Lipman rebounded and took the second set 6-2, and eventually won the tight third set in a tiebreaker over Cant, 7-6(4). It was Cant's first loss of the season as he fell to 9-1 on the year.
"We have to have a good week of practice, improve our confidence and have that carry over in our matches," said Nilsson. "If we improve and have more consistency on the court we will get back to winning."
The Bulldogs will look to rebound next weekend as MSU will play its conference home opener on Friday, Mar. 12 against No. 73 LSU followed by a Sunday home match on Mar. 14 against 52nd-ranked Arkansas.
#30 VANDERBILT 5, #40 MISSISSIPPI STATE, 2
Nashville, Tenn. - 3/7/10
DOUBLES
No. 1 - Adam Baker/Alex Zotov (VU) def. George Coupland/Artem Ilyushin (MSU) 8-7(5); No. 2 - Ryan Lipman/Bryant Salcedo (VU) def. Antonio Lastre/Daniel Sanchez (MSU) 8-5; No. 3 - Alex DiValerio/Vijay Paul (VU) def. Louis Cant/Chris Doerr (MSU) 8-4 (Order of Finish:2,3,1 ).
SINGLES
No. 1 - #48 Lipman (VU) def. #100 Cant (MSU) 5-7, 6-2, 7-6(4); No. 2 - Ilyushin (MSU) def. Salcedo (VU) 6-4, 6-3; No. 3 - Paul (VU) def. #101 Coupland (MSU) 6-2, 7-6(5); No. 4 - Zotov (VU) def. Lastre (MSU) 6-4, 6-1; No. 5 - Sanchez (MSU) def. Baker (VU) 7-6(3), 4-6, 6-2; No. 6 - DiValerio (VU) def. Doerr (MSU) 6-4, 5-7, 7-6(2) (Order of Finish:2,4,3,5,6,1 ).
Players Mentioned
