Mississippi State
Georgia Tech
State Tennis Drops Road Test At Georgia Tech
February 05, 2011 | Men's Tennis
ATLANTA, Ga. - Dropping its second match of the dual match season, the 34th-ranked Mississippi State men's tennis team fell to 1-2 on the year with a 4-0 setback in Atlanta, Ga., to the No. 23 ranked Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets.
MSU, who was competing with its highest ranking since Feb. 28, 2006, fell behind early, 1-0, dropping all three doubles matches. First MSU dropped an 8-5 decision on court three with Louis Cant and Malte Stropp having their three-match win streak snapped by the Yellow Jackets' Guillermo Gomez and Dean O'Brien. Georgia Tech clinched the doubles point at the No. 2 position with an 8-5 victory by Eliot Potvin and Ryan Smith over State's Artem Ilyushin and Zach White. The sweep in doubles was completed at the No. 1 slot with the Bulldog tandem of James Chaudry and George Coupland dropping a close match to the eighth-ranked Yellow Jacket duo Kevin King and Juan Spir, 9-8(5).
Trailing 1-0, MSU entered singles play with positions one thru three hitting the courts first. State's Stropp, who is the SEC's reigning Freshman of the Week, had his four-match win streak snapped with a straight-set loss to Potvin, 7-5, 6-2. At the No. 1 spot, Bulldog junior Coupland dropped a straight-set decision to No. 12 nationally ranked Gomez of Georgia Tech, 6-4, 7-5, to give the Yellow Jackets a 3-0 lead.
The match was clinched at court two, where MSU's Ilyushin dropped his second-straight match with a loss to 48th-ranked Spir in a three-set battle, 3-6, 7-6(8), 6-3.
Play was suspended on courts four and five with MSU's 60th-ranked Cant trailing a set to Georgia Tech's King, 6-2, 3-3, susp., at the No. 4 slot and Bulldog sophomore Chaudry trailing a game in the first set to Magin Ortega, 5-6, susp., at the No. 5 position. Action on court six between State's freshman White and O'Brien of the Yellow Jackets was never begun.
MSU will look to rebound this Thursday in the 14th annual River Hills Cup in Jackson, Miss., against the No. 17 ranked Ole Miss Rebels.
#23 GEORGIA TECH 4, #34 MISSISSIPPI STATE 0
Atlanta, Ga. - 2/5/11
SINGLES
No. 1 - #12 Guillermo Gomez (GT) def. George Coupland (MSU) 6-4, 7-5; No. 2 - #48 Juan Spir (GT) def. Artem Ilyushin (MSU) 3-6, 7-6(8), 6-3; No. 3 - Eliot Potvin (GT) def. Malte Stropp (MSU) 7-5, 6-2; No. 4 - #60 Louis Cant (MSU) vs. Kevin King (GT) 2-6, 3-3, susp. No. 5 - James Chaudry (MSU) vs. Magin Ortiga (GT) 5-6, susp. No. 6 - Zach White (MSU) vs. Dean O'Brien (GT) not played (Order of Finish: 3,1,2).
DOUBLES
No. 1 - #8 King/Spir (GT) def. Chaudry/Coupland (MSU) 9-8(5); No. 2 - Potvin/Ryan Smith (GT) def. Ilyushin/White (MSU) 8-5; No. 3 - Gomez/O'Brien (GT) def. Cant/Stropp (MSU) 8-5 (Order of Finish: 3,2,1).
Players Mentioned
