Mississippi State
Texas A&M
#14 MSU Tennis Falls In 4-3 Heartbreaker At #11 Texas A&M
January 30, 2012 | Men's Tennis
In a tight battle for the doubles point, State gained the opening point of the day.
A&M took the early match on court 1 where the Aggie pair of Junior Ore and Jackson Withrow upset MSU's 12th-ranked duo of Louis Cant and Malte Stropp 8-5 in a tight battle. However, the Bulldogs would bounce back quickly as the MSU tandem of James Chaudry and Ethan Wilkinson took down Texas A&M's Collin Hoover and Jeremy Efferding 8-4 on 3.
Clinching the doubles point for the Bulldogs was the duo of George Coupland and Artem Ilyushin in the #2 spot. With Ilyushin serving at 7-4, State took the 8-4 triumph over the Aggie pair of Jordan Szabo and Alexis Klegou, giving the Bulldogs the 1-0 lead after doubles.
As singles play began, State and the Aggies split first sets 3-3 and the battle began. The 32nd-ranked Bulldog Coupland was the first to take a victory for MSU as he bested Withrow in an easy 6-3, 6-1 decision at the No. 5 position putting the Dogs up 2-0.
However, the Aggies fought back as 19th-ranked Klegou of A&M downed State's Ilyushin 6-4, 6-2 in the top spot, bringing TAMU within one at 2-1. Evening the match for Texas A&M was John Lewis on court 6. After taking the first set 6-3, Lewis battled Bulldog Zach White in a second-set tiebreaker where Lewis was able to oust White 7-4 to tie the match at 2-2 with a 6-3, 7-6(4) win.
Following the early two-setters, the three remaining courts all went to very intense third sets, with each team needing two wins to clinch. Louis Cant would give MSU a 3-2 lead by claiming the first match off court.
After fighting back from a 4-1 deficit to take the first set 6-4 at No. 3, the No. 45 Cant dropped a tough 7-5 second set, forcing a third. However, Cant proved too much for A&M's 104th-ranked Ore as he downed his Aggie foe 6-4, 5-7, 6-2.
Again, the Aggies battled back, first in a heated battle at the No. 4 position. The Bulldogs' 90th-ranked Stropp took a quick first set from A&M's No. 73 Efferding 6-1 but, Efferding quickly took the second set back 6-0. As the third set progressed, the match was destined for a tiebreaker to decide things. With Stropp leading 6-4 in the tiebreak, Efferding battled back to claim the final four points and claim the match 1-6, 6-0, 7-6(6) in an incredible finish. The win evened the match at 3-3.
The final battle came on court 2 where MSU's 79th-ranked Chaudry went head-to-head with Hoover of the Aggies. After falling 6-3 in the first, Chaudry fought back from a break down to win a fierce 8-6 tiebreaker in the second, winning five straight points (including saving three straight match points).
In the third, Hoover took an early 3-1 lead and held his service break to 5-3. Holding serve to 5-4, Chaudry then broke back on Hoover to even things at 5-5. However, Hoover would answer that break and hold to clinch the match 6-3, 6-7(6), 7-5, giving Texas A&M the 4-3 victory.
"This was a disappointing loss for us today," head coach Per Nilsson said. "Texas A&M is a tough team and we had to face them at their place. I don't feel that we played as well as we should so hopefully we can work out the kinks this week."
Next up is the Bulldogs' 2012 home opener against 51st-ranked TCU this Friday, February 3. Match time is slated for 2 p.m. CT at the A.J. Pitts Tennis Centre on the MSU campus.
#11 Texas A&M 4, #14 Mississippi State 3
1/29/12 - George P. Mitchell Tennis Center - College Station, Texas
DOUBLES
1) Junior Ore/Jackson Withrow (TAMU) def. #12 Louis Cant/Malte Stropp (MSU) 8-5
2) George Coupland/Artem Ilyushin (MSU) def Jordan Szabo/Alexis Klegou (TAMU) 8-4
3) James Chaudry/Ethan Wilkinson (MSU) def. Collin Hoover/Jeremy Efferding 8-4
SINGLES
1) . #19 Klegou (TAMU) def. Ilyushin (MSU) 6-4, 6-2
2) Hoover (TAMU) def. #79 Chaudry (MSU) 6-3, 6-7(6), 7-5
3) #45 Cant (MSU) def. #104 Ore (TAMU) 6-4, 5-7, 6-2
4) #73 Efferding (TAMU) def. #90 Stropp (MSU) 1-6, 6-0, 7-6(6)
5) #32 Coupland (MSU) def. Withrow (TAMU) 6-3, 6-1
6) John Lewis (TAMU) def. Zach White (MSU) 6-3, 7-6(4)
Order of finish... Doubles (1,3,2)... Singles (5,1,6,3,4,2)
Players Mentioned
