MSU's Ilyushin Tabbed SEC Men's Tennis Player of the Week
STARKVILLE, Miss. - Following an impressive showing the Blue-Gray National Tennis Classic this past weekend, Mississippi State's 27th-ranked senior Artem Ilyushin was named the SEC Player of the Week.
Ilyushin began his current three-match win streak with a solid three-set victory over then then-27th-ranked Marcel Theimann of Ole Miss in MSU's triumph over the Rebels in the River Hills Cup. This past weekend, Ilyushin faced two more top-35 opponents and posted more impressive results.
During Saturday's match-up with No. 44 Boise State, Ilyushin quickly downed his 34th-ranked foe, James Meredith, 6-1, 6-1. The following match, Ilyushin faced Texas Tech's 33rd-ranked Gonzalo Escobar and quickly downed his Red Raider foe 6-2, 6-1, his third top 35 victory in a row.
In doubles, the senior duo of Ilyushin and George Coupland are on a six-match win streak with their most recent victory coming against Texas Tech in a quick 8-0 blanking.
MSU's run at the Blue-Gray Classic last weekend consisted of three straight 4-0 shutouts of top 60 opponents, allowing just two sets in 18 singles matches played over the course of the tournament.
In yesterday's release of the Intercollegiate Tennis Association national poll, the 14th-ranked Bulldogs accounted for four of the top 75 players in the country including No. 27 Ilyushin, 37th-ranked Louis Cant, No. 41 Coupland and 75th-ranked Malte Stropp. In doubles, Cant and Stropp were 23rd.
The Bulldogs, 9-2 overall and winners of five straight matches, open SEC play this weekend when they will host the 46th-ranked Crimson Tide of Alabama on Friday, March 2, at 2 p.m. CT and No. 12 Auburn on Sunday, March 4, at 1 p.m. Matches will be played at the A.J. Pitts Tennis Centre on Mississippi State's campus.