Mississippi State
Auburn
State Tennis Celebrates Senior Day With 5-2 Victory Over Auburn
April 11, 2010 | Men's Tennis
"It feels so good to finally get a win," said head coach Per Nilsson. "Most people don't realize, but we have been right there with a chance to win in almost all of our conference matches so to finally get there is a sign of improvement. We cannot stay satisfied with this though, we celebrate tonight then prepare for Ole Miss this week."
It seems to have become the norm for MSU to win the doubles play, as the Bulldogs won its fourth-straight doubles point and its 12th of the season, sweeping the doubles for a second-straight match. Playing in his final home match of his career was senior Chris Doerr along with doubles partner Louis Cant. The Bulldog duo got things going for the Maroon and White with an 8-4 victory at the No. 3 position over Auburn's Nick Maurillo and Michel Monteiro, as Doerr deservingly hit the match-clinching point with a cross-court shot. Cant and Doerr improved to 13-4 on the season, 7-2 in league action and have now won four-straight matches. MSU's Daniel Sanchez and Tanner Stump clinched the doubles point for the Bulldogs, winning their second-straight match by defeating Tim Hewitt and Lucas Lopasso of Auburn, 8-4. On court one, MState's tandem of George Coupland and Artem Ilyushin improved to 6-1 when facing ranked opponents by winning their match in a tiebreaker against No. 10 nationally ranked Tim Puetz and Alex Stamchev of the Tigers, 8-7(3). Coupland and Ilyushin have now won four-straight as well and improved to 11-6 overall, 7-2 in the SEC.
State took a 2-0 lead with a straight-set win at the No. 5 position by Bulldog junior Antonio Lastre. Lastre won five straight games in the second set to earn the victory over AU's Oliver Strecker, 6-4, 6-1. The win snapped a three-match skid for Lastre, who picked up his 11th win of the dual match season.
MSU increased its lead from the No. 3 position, where State's 125th-ranked Coupland upset the Tigers' 107th-ranked Stamchev in straight sets. In the first set, Coupland went up 3-0 early, but dropped the next four games before rallying to win the set 6-4, and in the second set trailed 2-1, but rebounded and won five of the next six games to clinch the point for the Bulldogs. Coupland has now won three-straight and improved to 5-4 in the league.
Auburn cut into MState's lead with a win at the No. 4 slot, where sophomore Max Gregor dropped a long two-set battle to Auburn's Lopasso, 6-4, 6-2. Gregor held a 4-3 lead in the first set, but Lopasso fought back and won the next three games to take the set and carried the momentum into the second set where he earned the victory.
Looking to avoid losing another match where they held a commanding lead, MSU's Sanchez pulled through for the Maroon and White as fans stood up and applauded Sanchez's two-set victory, clinching the match for the Bulldogs at court six. Sanchez beat Andy Mies of AU in identical sets, 6-4, 6-4, to win his second-straight match. Sanchez trailed in the first set 4-3, before coming back to win it 6-4, and then trailed 3-2 in the second set, but came from behind again to win 6-4 and clinch the match. It was the first time this season that Sanchez clinched a match for MSU, as the sophomore improved to 9-3 in dual match play and 4-2 in the SEC.
With the match decided, State's 67th-ranked Cant dropped a tight three-set bout to the Tigers' 20th-ranked Puetz. Cant dropped the opening set 6-1 and trailed 5-3 in the second set, but came back to win a tiebreaking decision to force a third set tiebreaker, 7-6(4). In the third-set tiebreaker, Cant took an early 4-0 lead, but eventually dropped the set and the match, 10-7, bringing the match score to 4-2.
MSU's sophomore Ilyushin, gave the Bulldogs their final point with a three-set victory over Auburn's Hewitt, 6-2, 3-6, 6-4, snapping a three-match skid for Ilyushin as he earned his 10th win of the season.
MSU will carry its momentum from the win into the final match of the regular season this Saturday at 1 p.m., when State will face off against 17th-ranked Ole Miss in Oxford, Miss.
#55 MISSISSIPPI STATE 5, #37 AUBURN 2
Starkville, Miss. - 4/11/10
DOUBLES
No. 1 - George Coupland/Artem Ilyushin (MSU) def. #10 Tim Puetz/Alex Stamchev (AU) 8-7(3); No. 2 - Daniel Sanchez/Tanner Stump (MSU) def. Tim Hewitt/Lucas Lopasso (AU) 8-4; No. 3 - Louis Cant/Chris Doerr (MSU) def. Nick Maurillo/Michel Monteiro (AU) 8-4; (Order of Finish:3,2,1 ).
SINGLES
No. 1 - #20 Puetz (AU) def. #67 Cant (MSU) 6-1, 6-7(4), 1-0(7); No. 2 - Ilyushin (MSU) def. Hewitt (AU) 6-2, 3-6 6-4; No. 3 - #125 Coupland (MSU) def. #107 Stamchev (AU) 6-4, 6-3; No. 4 - Lopasso (AU) def. Max Gregor (MSU) 6-4, 6-2; No. 5 - Antonio Lastre (MSU) def. Oliver Strecker (AU) 6-4, 6-1; No. 6 - Sanchez (MSU) def. Andy Mies (AU) 6-4, 6-4; (Order of Finish:5,3,4,6,1,2 ).
Players Mentioned
