Mississippi State
Baylor
State Tennis Loses 4-3 Heartbreaker At No. 11 Baylor
February 27, 2011 | Men's Tennis
WACO, Texas - After taking a 3-2 lead and flirting with an impressive road victory the 33rd-ranked Mississippi State men's tennis team dropped a heartbreaking match at the No. 11 nationally ranked Baylor Bears, 4-3. It was MSU's second 4-3 setback to a top 15 nationally ranked opponent this season.
"Baylor is one of the toughest places to play in the country and we were right there till the end," Coach Per Nilsson said. "I know we are going to start winning these close matches against these really good teams soon."
MSU fell behind early by getting swept in the doubles point, but all three matches were very close. At the No. 1 position State's 43rd-ranked duo Louis Cant and Malte Stropp had their two-match win streak snapped with a 9-7 setback to Baylor's No. 7 nationally ranked team of Roberto Maytin and John Peers. At the No. 3 slot, MSU's James Chaudry and Artem Ilyushin competed as a duo for the first time this season, but fell in a tight battle against the Bears No. 32 ranked Julian Bley and Kike Grangeiro, 8-6, which clinched the doubles point for the Bears. The 72nd-ranked Bulldog tandem of George Coupland and Zach White fell, 9-7, to Sergio Ramirez and Jordan Rux of the Bears at the No. 2 spot to conclude doubles action.
Bulldog junior George Coupland evened the score and got MSU on the board with a straight-set win at the No. 2 position. Coupland defeated Ramirez of the Bears, snapping his two-match streak, 6-2, 6-4. Coupland has now won three of his last four matches, improved to 3-4 in dual match action and is one win shy of his 30th career victory while wearing the Maroon and White.
At the No. 1 slot, MSU's No. 53 nationally ranked Ilyushin had his four-match win streak snapped to Baylor's 27th-ranked Peers, who improved to 7-0 in dual match play, 6-4, 6-1.
With Baylor holding a 2-1 lead, MSU responded with a pair of wins to take a lead and flirt with their first top 25 victory of the season. First MSU evened the score, 2-2, with Bulldog newcomer James Chaudry improving to 5-0 in dual match action and winning his seventh-straight match. Chaudry took down the Bears' Rux in straight-sets, 6-0, 6-3, at the No. 4 spot. Then at the No. 3 position, MSU's Stropp won his fourth-straight match and gave MSU a 3-2 lead with an identical-set win over Dennis Lengsfeld of Baylor, 6-2, 6-2. With the win Stropp won his fourth-straight match, improved to 5-1 in dual match play and is an impressive 8-1 this spring.
Baylor evened the score, 3-3, with MSU's White having a hard-fought setback at the No. 6 position to Grangeiro of the Bears, 7-5, 6-1.
With the score tied all eyes turned to court five where State's 73rd-ranked Cant was in a back-and-forth battle with No. 110 ranked Maytin of Baylor. Cant dropped the opening set to Maytin, 6-3, and battled to a tiebreaker in the second set. In a tight battle, Cant eventually fell 8-6 in the tiebreaker and Baylor clinched the point and the match.
MSU( 4-4), who played its fourth top 25 opponent this season today, had its three-match win streak snapped with the tough setback to Baylor (5-2) who won its third-straight match today. MSU turns its focus to its SEC slate which will begin next weekend at home when State will have a pair of top 25 opponents come to the A.J. Pitts Tennis Centre in Vanderbilt and Kentucky.
#11 Baylor 4, #33 Mississippi State 3
Waco, Texas - 2/27/11
DOUBLES
No. 1 - #27 Peers (Baylor) def. #53 Ilyushin (MSU) 6-4, 6-1; No. 2 - Coupland (MSU) def. Ramirez (Baylor) 6-2, 6-4; No. 3 - Stropp (MSU) def. Dennis Lengsfeld (Baylor) 6-2, 6-2; No. 4 - Chaudry (MSU) def. Rux (Baylor) 6-0, 6-3; No. 5 - #110 Maytin (Baylor) def. #73 Cant (MSU) 6-3, 7-6(6); No. 6 - Grangeiro (Baylor) def. White (MSU) 7-5, 6-1; (Order of Finish: 2,1,4,3,6,5).
SINGLES
No. 1 - #7 Roberto Maytin/John Peers (Baylor) def. #43 Louis Cant/Malte Stropp (MSU) 9-7; No. 2 - Sergio Ramirez/Jordan Rux (Baylor) def. #72 George Coupland/Zach White (MSU) 9-7; No. 3 - #32 Julian Bley/Kike Grangeiro (Baylor) def. James Chaudry/Artem Ilyushin (MSU) 8-6; (Order of Finish: 1,3,2).
Players Mentioned
