Mississippi State
UAB
MSU Concludes Home Opening Weekend With 7-0 Win Over UAB
February 13, 2011 | Men's Tennis
"It is never easy to beat a team 7-0 and our guys did it twice this weekend" said Coach Per Nilsson, who captured his 20th victory over a non-conference opponent while at MSU. "We came into this weekend determined to improve and show we are the better team and we did that at each and every single court on both days and I am proud of the way these guys battled."
The Bulldogs improved to 26-1 all-time against the Blazers. Today's win also marked the first time since 2003 that MSU has captured at least two 7-0 victories in the same season.
For the second-straight match the Maroon and White swept the doubles point. MSU's duo of Louis Cant and Malte Stropp earned their team-best eighth win of the season with an 8-4 handling of UAB's Lucas Dirube and Chris Helliar on court three to give State the early edge in doubles. The Bulldogs clinched the doubles point and took an early 1-0 lead on court two, where MSU's James Chaudry and Tanner Stump, who was making his dual match play debut, defeated Danny Manlow and Daniel Moser of the Blazers, 8-5. Similar to yesterday, State's 53rd-ranked tandem George Coupland and Artem Ilyushin completed the sweep for MSU at the No. 1 position with an 8-7(2) win over Tom Puetz and David Zimmerman of UAB. That victory marked the first win for MSU in a tiebreaker in doubles this season following five previous attempts.
The Bulldogs increased its lead over UAB to 2-0 after MSU's No. 60 nationally ranked Cant blanked UAB's Puetz, 6-0, 6-0, at the No. 4 spot. Cant has now won six of his previous seven matches and with today's win claimed his 20th career dual match victory. On court three, State's Chaudry improved his current win streak to five with a two-set victory over the Blazers' Dirube, 6-3, 6-2. Chaudry is now 3-0 in dual match action for the Maroon and White.
For the fourth-time in his career, MSU's Ilyushin, who was fresh off of claiming his 40th career match at MSU, clinched the match for the Maroon and White with a straight-set victory, 6-4, 6-2, against Manlow of UAB. Ilyushin has now won three-straight matches for MSU.
With the match claimed in MSU's favor the Bulldogs did not hold back as they claimed the three remaining points of the match, first at the No. 5 position where State's freshman Stropp won, 6-3, 6-4, against UAB's Moser. On court one, the Bulldogs' Coupland trailed 4-0 in the opening set but rallied to win the set and eventually the match, 7-6(2), 6-1, over Zimmerman of the Blazers.
Playing in his first dual match of the season, MSU's senior Antonio Lastre fought back after trailing one set down to win the match and completed the shutout for State. Lastre dropped the opening set to UAB's Helliar, 6-2, but blanked his opponent in the following set, 6-0, and eventually clinched the match with a third-set win, 6-3.
The Bulldogs will get a well deserved break before returning to action. MSU will return to the courts on Feb. 25 in Fort Worth, Texas, where they will face 52nd-ranked TCU followed with a match at No. 9 nationally ranked Baylor on Feb. 27.
#32 MISSISSIPPI STATE 7, UAB 0
Starkville, Miss. - 2/13/11
DOUBLES
No. 1 - #53 George Coupland/Artem Ilyushin (MSU) vs. Tom Puetz/David Zimmerman (UAB) 8-7(2); No. 2 - James Chaudry/Tanner Stump (MSU) def. Danny Manlow/Daniel Moser (UAB) 8-5; No. 3 - Louis Cant/Malte Stropp (MSU) def. Lucas Dirube/Chris Helliar (UAB) 8-4; (Order of Finish: 3,2,1).
SINGLES
No. 1 - Coupland (MSU) def. Zimmerman (UAB) 7-6(2), 6-1; No. 2 - Ilyushin (MSU) def. Manlow (UAB) 6-4, 6-2; No. 3 - Chaudry (MSU) def. Dirube (UAB) 6-3, 6-2; No. 4 - #60 Cant (MSU) def. Puetz (UAB) 6-0, 6-0; No. 5 - Stropp (MSU) def. Moser (UAB) 6-3, 6-4; No. 6 - Antonio Lastre (MSU) def. Helliar (UAB) 2-6, 6-0, 6-3; (Order of Finish: 4,3,2,5,1,6).
Players Mentioned
