Mississippi State
Kentucky
Bulldogs Drop Match To No. 12 Kentucky
March 06, 2011 | Men's Tennis
STARKVILLE, Miss. - On what turned out to be a very chilly Sunday afternoon, the Mississippi State men's tennis team wasn't able to perform back-to-back upset bids to open its conference schedule as the Maroon and White fell to No. 12 nationally ranked Kentucky, 6-1.
The setback puts MSU at 5-5 on the season and 1-1 in Southeastern Conference action, while Kentucky improved to 13-3 and 2-0 in league play. All five of MSU's losses have come from teams that were ranked in the top 25 when the match was played.
Earning the point for the Maroon and White was sophomore James Chaudry who improved to 6-0 in dual match action and has now won eight-straight matches. Chaudry took down the Wildcats Brad Cox in a three-set battle, 6-3, 2-6, 6-4, at the No. 3 position.
Like they have done in the previous three matches, MSU slipped up in the doubles point, with losses at courts one and three. Bulldog duo Louis Cant and Malte Stropp dropped an 8-3 decision to Cox and Eric Qugiley of Kentucky at the No. 1 position, while MSU's Artem Ilyushin and Tanner Stump fell, 8-6, at the No. 3 spot to Alex Musialek and Anthony Rossi of UK. On court two, State's tandem of George Coupland and Zach White were all tied up, 8-8, with Alberto Gonzalez and Tom Jomby when the UK duo retired giving the Coupland and White the victory.
The Wildcats lead was extended at court one where George Coupland, who was fresh off his upset bid against No. 36 ranked Ryan Lipman of Vanderbilt this past Friday, was serving up against a top 5 nationally ranked opponent in Quigley of the Wildcats. Quigley defeated Coupland in straight-sets, 6-3, 6-2, to improve to 9-2 in dual match action.
Bulldog freshman Stropp had his four-match win streak snapped with a straight-set loss at court four. Stropp fell to the Wildcats' No. 86 ranked Gonzalez, 7-5, 6-1, which is only Stropp's second loss of the spring. With a 3-0 lead UK clinched the match at the No. 5 position where State's 73rd-ranked Cant fell to Rossi of Kentucky in identical sets, 6-3, 6-3.
With the match clinched in favor of the visiting Wildcats, State's Ilyushin and White dropped a pair of matches on courts two and six. The No. 92 ranked Ilyushin slipped up to 57th-ranked Musialek of the Wildcats in identical sets, 6-4, 6-4, and White dropped a very competitive match to UK's Jomby which ended in a third-set tiebreaker, 6-7(5), 6-2, 7-6(2).
"I really thought we would have come out and played better than we did today," Coach Per Nilsson said. "Give Kentucky credit though, they did a good job and deserved the win. We'll practice harder this week and make some improvements and play better next weekend."
MSU will look to rebound next weekend when it travels for the first time league play. The Bulldogs will first hit the courts next Friday at Arkansas followed by a Sunday match at LSU.
#12 Kentucky 6, #43 Mississippi State 1
Starkville, Miss. - 3/6/11
DOUBLES
No. 1 - Brad Cox/Eric Quigley (Kentucky) def. Louis Cant/Malte Stropp (MSU) 8-3; No. 2 - George Coupland/Zach White (MSU) def. Alberto Gonzalez/Tom Jomby (Kentucky) 8-8, ret.; No. 3 - Alex Musialek/Anthony Rossi (Kentucky) def. Artem Ilyushin/Tanner Stump (MSU) 8-6; (Order of Finish: 1,2,3).
SINGLES
No. 1 - #5 Quigley (Kentucky) def. Coupland (MSU) 6-3, 6-2; No. 2 - #57 Musialek (Kentucky) def. #92 Ilyushin (MSU) 6-4, 6-4; No. 3 - James Chaudry (MSU) def. Cox (Kentucky) 6-3, 2-6, 6-4; No. 4 - #86 Gonzalez (Kentucky) def. Stropp (MSU) 6-3, 6-2; No. 5 - Rossi (Kentucky) def. #73 Cant (MSU) 6-3, 6-3; No. 6 - Jomby (Kentucky) def. White (MSU) 6-7(5), 6-2, 7-6(2) ; (Order of Finish: 1,4,5,2,3,6).
Players Mentioned
