Ilyushin Earns Second SEC Player of the Week Honors
STARKVILLE, Miss. - Following an impressive win this past weekend over Ole Miss and a stellar finish to the regular season, Mississippi State tennis' 12th-ranked senior Artem Ilyushin has earned SEC Player of the Week honors for the second time this spring, as announced by the league office Monday.
Ilyushin was the match-clinching win during Saturday's win over the No. 14 Rebels as he downed 14th-ranked Nik Scholtz 6-4, 6-1 in the top spot. Ilyushin's efforts helped MSU to its third-straight victory over Ole Miss and back-to-back outright SEC Western Division championships.
With this weekend's win over Scholtz, Ilyushin capped an impressive 9-2 slate in conference play and a 15-5 mark in dual match action this spring, while playing in the No. 1 position for the Bulldogs. Ilyushin downed seven players in the top 40 this season with his most impressive win coming against then third-ranked Will Spencer of Georgia in Athens.
In doubles, the 53rd-ranked duo of George Coupland and Ilyushin finished an impressive 7-4 after their win over the No. 16 Chris and Marcel Thiemann of Ole Miss on Saturday.
The Bulldogs will be back in action on Friday as they host the 2012 SEC Men's Tennis Championship at the A.J. Pitts Tennis Centre as the No. 3 seed. Due to the top-four seeding, MSU earned a first-round bye and is slated to play in the 11 a.m. CT slot on Friday in the quarterfinals. Complete tourney details can be found at www.hailstate.com/SECtennis and the tournament can be followed on Twitter (@SECtennis).