Mississippi State
Ole Miss
Bulldogs Drop Tough 4-1 Decision To No. 17 Ole Miss
February 10, 2011 | Men's Tennis
The No. 32 ranked Bulldogs (1-3), who faced their third top 25 opponents of the season, fell behind early to the Rebels (3-2) after dropping the doubles point. MSU's newcomer duo James Chaudry and Zach White had their two-match win streak snapped with an 8-4 setback at the No. 2 position against Ole Miss' Marcel Thiemann and Jonas Lutjen. The doubles point was clinched shortly after at the No. 3 slot where State's Louis Cant and Malte Stropp fell to the Rebel tandem Johan Backstrom and Adrain Forberg, 8-6. Play was then suspended at the No. 1 position where MSU's 53rd-ranked duo George Coupland and Artem Ilyushin trailed 7-6 to Kalle Norberg and Tucker Vorster of Ole Miss.
With the match being played on three indoor courts, positions one thru three took the courts first for singles action. At the No. 1 spot, State's Coupland suffered a straight-set defeat to No. 32 ranked Thiemann of the Rebels to give Ole Miss a 2-0 lead. State then trailed 3-0 when No. 60 nationally ranked Cant of MSU dropped a hard-fought battle to Ole Miss' 107th-ranked Vorster, 7-6(4), 6-4. The loss snapped a four-match win streak for Cant and it was his first setback of the spring season.
The Bulldogs got on the board at the No. 3 slot, where MSU's Ilyushin battled back after trailing a set to claim his fourth three-set victory this year with a 4-6, 6-2, 6-1, win over Ole Miss' Kalle Norberg to bring the Bulldogs within two of the Rebels.
With the final wave of singles matches being played MSU made things very interesting as momentum seemed to shift in the Bulldogs favor on courts four and five where State held leads on both courts when the match was finally clinched at the No. 6 spot. Bulldog freshman White dropped a 6-4, 6-2, decision to Ole Miss freshman Johan Backstrom to give the Rebels the 4-1 victory.
State freshman Stropp led Rebels' Lutjen, 3-6, 6-4, 3-2, at the No. 4 spot when play was suspended and MSU's Chaudry held a set lead at the No. 5 position when play was halted.
The Maroon and White will look to rebound this Saturday as they open their home slate with a 1 p.m. match against the Tulane Green Wave.
#17 Ole Miss 4, #32 Mississippi State 1
14th Annual River Hills Cup - Jackson, Miss. - 2/10/11
DOUBLES
No. 1 - #53 George Coupland/Artem Ilyushin (MSU) vs. Kalle Norberg/Tucker Vorster (UM) 6-7, susp.; No. 2 - Jonas Lutjen/Marcel Thiemann (UM) def. James Chaudry/Zach White (MSU) 8-5; No. 3 - Johan Backstrom/Adrian Forberg (UM) def. Louis Cant/Malte Stropp (MSU) 8-6; (Order of Finish: 2,3).
SINGLES
No. 1 - #32 M. Thiemann (UM) def. Coupland (MSU) 7-5, 6-1; No. 2 -Ilyushin (MSU) def. Norberg (UM) 4-6, 6-2, 6-1; No. 3 - #107 Vorster (UM) def. #60 Cant (MSU) 7-6(4), 6-4; No. 4 -Stropp (MSU) vs. Lutjen (UM) 3-6, 6-4, 3-2, susp.; No. 5 - Chaudry (MSU) vs. Forberg (UM) 7-6(5), 2-0, susp.; No. 6 - Backstrom (UM) def. White (MSU) 6-4, 6-2; (Order of Finish: 1,3,2,6).
Players Mentioned
