Mississippi State
Georgia
Cant's Upset Highlights MSU's Setback To No. 8 Georgia
April 02, 2010 | Men's Tennis
"We lost all the momentum from the doubles in the first 15 minutes in singles and with a team as experienced and as talented as Georgia you cannot do that," said head coach Per Nilsson. "Our guys fought hard and gave a great effort today, but we have to do a better job coming out prepared when we get into singles."
For the ninth time this season, State claimed the doubles point and took an early 1-0 lead in the match. MState fell behind early in doubles play, when Bulldog tandem Daniel Sanchez and Tanner Stump fell to the 42nd-ranked UGA duo of Jamie Hunt and Nate Schnugg, 8-3, at the No. 2 position. State rebounded at the No. 3 slot, where State's Louis Cant and Chris Doerr won 8-5 over Bo Seal and Christian Vitulli of Georgia, improving their record to 10-4 and 4-2 in SEC action. At the No. 1 spot, MSU's team of George Coupland and Artem Ilyushin trailed 5-1, but rallied and claimed seven of the next eight games to win the match and clinch the doubles point for State, 8-6, over Drake Bernstein and Javier Garrapiz of UGA.
UGA evened the score to one-all at the No. 2 spot, where State's 125th-ranked sophomore Coupland fell in straight sets to 86th-ranked Schnugg of the hosting Bulldogs, 6-1, 6-4. UGA took its first lead of the match with a victory at the No. 5 position, where MState's senior Doerr dropped his third-straight match in a two-set bout against Georgia's Vitulli, 6-3, 6-1.
State began to watch the match slip away with a loss at the No. 4 position, with Bulldog junior Lastre falling to UGA's Bernstein, 6-2, 7-5. Georgia clinched the match at the No. 6 position. Sophomore Hrehan Hakeem was playing in his third match of his young career for the Maroon and White and fell to Seal of Georgia, 6-4, 6-3. Georgia won its final point of the match at the No. 3 slot when MSU sophomore Ilyushin fell in straight sets to Hunt of UGA, 6-4, 6-2.
67th-ranked sophomore Cant of State snapped his four-match losing streak with a come-from-behind upset victory over No. 22 nationally ranked Garrapiz of Georgia, 4-6, 6-2, 1-0(9), concluding the match in UGA's favor, 5-2.
MSU will look to rebound this Easter Sunday, April 4, at third-ranked Tennessee. The match is set to begin at noon CT; live stats will be available at www.mstateathletics.com.
#8 GEORGIA 5, #47 MISSISSIPPI STATE 2
Athens, Ga. - 4/2/10
DOUBLES
No. 1 - George Coupland/Artem Ilyushin (MSU) def. Drake Bernstein/Javier Garrapiz (UGA) 8-6; No. 2 - #42 Jamie Hunt/Nate Schnugg (UGA) def. Daniel Sanchez/Tanner Stump (MSU) 8-3; No. 3 - Louis Cant/Chris Doerr (MSU) def. Bo Seal/Christian Vitulli (UGA) 8-5; (Order of Finish: 2,3,1).
SINGLES
No. 1 - #67 Cant (MSU) def. #22 Garrapiz (UGA) 4-6, 6-2, 1-0(9); No. 2 - #86 Schnugg def. #125 Coupland (MSU) 6-1, 6-4; No. 3 - Hunt (UGA) def. Ilyushin (MSU) 6-4, 6-2; No. 4 - Bernstein (UGA) def. Lastre (MSU) 6-2, 7-5; No. 5 - Vitulli (UGA) def. Doerr (MSU) 6-3, 6-1; No. 6 - Seal (UGA) def. Hrehan Hakeem (MSU) 6-4, 6-3; (Order of Finish: 2,5,4,6,3,1).
Players Mentioned
