Mississippi State
Princeton
No. 14 State Tennis Downs Princeton In ITA Kickoff Weekend Opener
January 28, 2012 | Men's Tennis
COLLEGE STATION, Texas - In the opening round of the ITA Kickoff Weekend in College Station, Texas, Mississippi State's 14th-ranked Bulldog tennis squad took an impressive 4-0 decision from No. 63 Princeton on Saturday. The win moved MSU to 4-1 on the 2012 campaign.
With the win, the Bulldogs will now play the winner of Saturday afternoon's Texas A&M/Purdue match at 3 p.m. CT on Sunday. If the Bulldogs are victorious in tomorrow's match, they will earn a spot in the ITA National Team Indoor Championships in Charlottesville, Va. That event will be held February 17-20.
In doubles action Saturday, the Bulldogs took the early lead as the senior duo of George Coupland and Artem Ilyushin took an easy 8-2 decision over Princeton's Matija Pecotic and Augie Bloom on court 2. The doubles clinching point came from the Bulldog tandem of James Chaudry and Ethan Wilkinson in the third position as they ousted Yohei Shoji and Michael Lin of Princeton to put the Bulldogs up 1-0.
Play was suspended at that point with MSU's 12th-ranked duo of Louis Cant and Malte Stropp leading Princeton's pair of Matt Siow and Matt Splinder in the top spot, 6-4.
Swinging into singles play, the Bulldogs never let up as they went on to take five of the six first sets. The early singles victory for MSU came from No. 32 Coupland on court 5 as he took an easy 6-2, 6-2 two-setter from Siow, extending the Bulldogs' lead 2-0.
On court 3 for the Bulldogs was 45th-ranked senior Louis Cant who battled to win a first set 6-4 over Splinder of Princeton. However, Cant easily took the second set and match 6-4, 6-1 giving MSU a 3-0 lead.
The match-clincher came on court 4 as the 90th-ranked Stropp took down Dan Davies of Princeton. In a tight first set, Stropp battled back after being down 4-3 to take the first 6-4. After the tough battle in the first, Stropp ousted his Princeton foe 6-4, 6-2 to clinch the match for the Bulldogs 4-0.
All other matches were suspended at that point with MSU holding comfortable leads in two of them and mounting a comeback in the other.
The Bulldog senior Ilyushin climbed back to take the first set 7-5 and was 2-2 in the second with Princeton's Pecotic on court 1. On court 2 for MSU was No. 79 Chaudry where he had a 6-4, 4-1 advantage over Bloom of Princeton. Also in a second set for the Dogs was White. After falling 6-2 to Princeton's Zack McCourt in the first, White had a 4-2 second set advantage when play was halted.
No. 14 Mississippi State 4, No. 63 Princeton 0
1/28/12 - George P. Mitchell Tennis Center - College Station, Texas
DOUBLES
1) #12 Louis Cant/Malte Stropp (MSU) vs. #11 Matt Siow/Matt Splinder (Princeton) 6-4 (susp.)
2) George Coupland/Artem Ilyushin (MSU) def. Matija Pecotic/Augie Bloom (Princeton) 8-2
3) James Chaudry/Ethan Wilkinson (MSU) def. Yohei Shoji/Michael Lin (Princeton) 8-2
SINGLES
1) Ilyushin (MSU) vs. Pecotic (Princeton) 7-5, 2-2 (susp.)2) #79 Chaudry (MSU) vs. Bloom (Princeton) 6-4, 4-1 (susp.)
3) #45 Cant (MSU) def. Splinder (Princeton) 6-4, 6-1
4) #90 Stropp (MSU) def. Dan Davies (Princeton) 6-4, 6-2
5) #32 Coupland (MSU) def. Siow (Princeton) 6-2, 6-2
6) Zach White (MSU) vs. Zack McCourt (Princeton) 2-6, 4-2 (susp.)
Players Mentioned
