Bulldog Tennis Hosts Top 5 Tennessee On 'Think Pink' Day At A.J. Pitts
The Bulldogs are coming off a 4-3 heartbreaker to No. 19 Florida that came down to a third-set tiebreaker on court one. Before that setback MSU had won four-straight and five of its previous six. State brings in a 9-6 overall record into Friday's match and a 4-2 conference record, which is tied for the western division lead in the Southeastern Conference. Tennessee is 16-2 on the year, 6-0 in league play and is on a two-match win streak. The Volunteers enter the match ranked No. 4 nationally.
State boasts three-ranked singles players led by junior George Coupland who is ranked 76th in the country. Coupland has won four-straight matches, is 5-1 at home this season, is one win shy of his 10th career SEC win and 35th overall career victory in the Maroon and White. Bulldog junior Louis Cant ranks 76th nationally and is winner of five-straight and six of his last seven. Cant is an impressive 5-1 in SEC play, 10-3 in dual matches and is one win away from his 10th career SEC win and 50th career singles victory. Also ranked is junior Artem Ilyushin who is 94th. Ilyushin has won three of his previous four matches and recently eclipsed 30 career dual match wins.
Other notable Bulldogs include freshman Malte Stropp who has won five-straight and nine of his last 10. Stropp, who has been honored as the conferences' Freshman of the Week three time this season, is 10-2 in dual matches, 4-1 in league play and 18-5 overall. Bulldog sophomore James Chaudry began his dual match career 7-0 before dropping his first match and currently stands at 9-2 right now. Fellow newcomer Zach White has won four of his last five matches and has won five-straight tiebreakers.
In doubles the Maroon and White boast two-ranked doubles teams. Coupland and White are ranked 55th nationally and Cant and Stropp stand 84th and have earned a team-best 12 wins this year.
UT boasts five ranked singles players led by sophomore Rhyne Williams who is No. 4 nationally. Senior John-Patrick Smith ranks 12th and has only dropped two dual matches; Tennys Sandgren, a sophomore for the Vols, is ranked 48th and is a perfect 14-0 in dual match play; senior Matteo Fago is No. 58 in the country and fellow senior Boris Conkic is ranked No. 121.
In doubles, Tennessee has three ranked national duos including the No. 1 nationally ranked doubles team, Conkic and Smith. Sandgren and Williams stand at 61st nationally followed by Conkic and Williams who are ranked 72nd.
The Bulldogs and Volunteers will begin competition at 1 p.m. CT at the A.J. Pitts Tennis Centre where admission is free to all home MSU tennis matches. Live stats will be available at www.mstateathletics.com.