#19 State Tennis Drops Tight One To #17 Florida In SEC Quarters, 4-2

Friday, April 22

Gainesville, Fla.

2:00 PM

Mississippi State

Florida

Louis Cant Nominated For SEC's McWhorter Post-Graduate Scholarship

#19 State Tennis Drops Tight One To #17 Florida In SEC Quarters, 4-2

April 22, 2011 | Men's Tennis

By: hailstate.com

GAINESVILLE, Fla. - In what was billed from the outset as a close matchup, Mississippi State's 19^th-ranked men's tennis team dropped a tough 4-2 decision to 17^th-ranked host Florida in the quarterfinals of the 2011 Southeastern Conference Championship Friday at UF's Ring Tennis Complex.

With the loss, MSU fell to 13-8 overall. UF improved to 16-8.

The Gators came out strong in doubles to take the opening point of the afternoon with identical 8-2 wins at the No. 1 and 3 positions. At No. 3, Gators Andrew Butz and Bob van Overbeek bested MSU's duo of James Chaudry and Zach White. A few minutes later, UF's 29^th-ranked tandem of Alex Lacroix and Sekou Bangoura Jr. downed 58^th-ranked Bulldogs George Coupland and Artem Ilyushin. Play on court 2 was suspended at that point.

In singles, the Gators took four of the six first sets to set up the victory, but would not get it without a late fight from the gritty Bulldog squad.

The first two singles matches completed finished within minutes of each other. MSU's 78^th-ranked Cant won 6-3, 6-2 at the No. 5 position, downing Florida's Billy Federhofer for his 10^th win in 11 outings. Then, on court 6, UF's Spencer Newman answered with a 6-4, 6-3 win over State's White. UF led 2-1 at that point.

Florida would take a 3-1 advantage in the match when the 44^th-ranked Bangoura Jr. posted a 6-3, 6-4 victory over MSU's 59^th-ranked Coupland at the No. 2 spot.

The rookie Bulldog Malte Stropp then put the finishing touches on his 11^th consecutive victory at the No. 4 spot, ousting Florida's van Overbeek 7-6(4), 6-1 to make the score 3-2 Gators.

The last two matches on court (positions 1 and 3), where Florida had taken the first set, saw the Bulldogs fight back to split sets. With MSU needing both contests to complete the comeback, Florida got the point they needed at No. 3, where UF's Nassim Slilam outlasted MSU's Chaudry 6-3, 2-6, 6-0.

The last match of the day, which was suspended once Florida had clinched the team win, had MSU's 58^th-ranked Ilyushin nearing an upset of UF's eighth-ranked Lacroix, leading 2-6, 6-3, 5-4 and Ilyushin holding a Love-30 lead on Lacroix's serve.

"We knew this would be a difficult match on Florida's home courts, but we also knew we had a great chance to win it," MSU head coach Per Nilsson said. "I was proud of the way our guys fought back in singles after getting down early to give us a chance to win the match at the end."

Mississippi State will now await its fate for the 2011 NCAA Tennis Championship, to be announced May 3 at 4:30 p.m. CT on NCAA.com. Based on their current top 20 ranking, the Bulldogs expect to earn their first selection to the 64-team NCAA field since 2005 and what would be the Bulldog tennis program's 20^th all-time appearance in the national championship.

#17 FLORIDA 4, #19 MISSISSIPPI STATE 2
April 22, 2011 - Gainesville, FL
2011 SEC Championship - Quarterfinals

DOUBLES -#29 Alex Lacroix/Sekoua Bangoura Jr. (UF) def. #58 George Coupland/Artem Ilyushin (MSU) 8-2; Billy Federhofer/Nassim Slilam (UF) vs. #33 Louis Cant/Malte Stropp (MSU) 5-3, susp.; Andrew Butz/Bob van Overbeek (UF) def. James Chaudry/Zach White (MSU) 8-2.
Order of finish:3,1.

SINGLES -#58 Ilyushin (MSU) vs. #8 Lacroix (UF) 2-6, 6-3, 5-4, susp.; #44 Bangoura Jr. (UF0 def. #59 Coupland (MSU) 6-3, 6-4; #93 Slilam (UF) def. Chaudry (MSU) 6-3, 2-6, 6-0; #103 Stropp (MSU) def. van Overbeek (UF) 7-6(4), 6-1; #78 Cant (MSU) def. Federhofer (UF) 6-3, 6-2; Spencer Newman (UF) def. White (MSU) 6-4, 6-3.
Order of finish: 5,6,2,4,3.