Bulldog Tennis Seniors Set To Open Play In NCAA Singles Championship
ATHENS, Ga. - The draws for the 2012 NCAA Individual Championships were released Tuesday and Mississippi State seniors Louis Cant, George Coupland and Artem Ilyushin are set to open play in the 64-player singles field on Wednesday at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex at the University of Georgia. Coupland and Ilyushin will also begin play in the 32-team doubles draw beginning Thursday.
Ilyushin, State's highest national seed in this year's singles draw as a 9-16 alphabetical, will be the first to take court for the Bulldogs on Wednesday. MSU's 19th all-American, ranked 13th nationally, will take on California's 37th-ranked Ben McLachlan at 11:30 a.m. ET in the first round. Ilyushin is making his second career appearance in the field, also competing last year. Ilyushin is 15-8 this spring with seven wins over top 40 foes.
Coupland, also making his second-straight appearance in the field, is ranked 56th nationally and will also meet a University of California foe in 58th-ranked Nick Andrews. Those two will square off at 4 p.m. ET. Coupland is 27-8 overall in singles in 2011-12 and has been ranked as high as 32nd nationally.
Cant, ranked 50th nationally, is making his first NCAA Singles showing. He will battle Southern Cal's 51st-ranked Yannick Hanfmann at 6:30 p.m. ET Wednesday. Cant stands at a remarkable 30-6 overall in singles in his final campaign at MSU, the first 30-match winner for State in a single season since 2002.
Coupland and Ilyushin, ranked 25th nationally as a doubles duo, will pair up to meet 21st-ranked Roy Kalmanovich and Dennis Nevolo of Illinois in Thursday's first round at a time to be announced. The MSU pair, which also made the NCAA Doubles field in 2010 together, is 15-5 overall together this season with three top 20 wins under their belt.
Links to tournament live stats can be found at www.hailstate.com and fans can also follow @mstateMT on Twitter for updates.
Ilyushin, State's highest national seed in this year's singles draw as a 9-16 alphabetical, will be the first to take court for the Bulldogs on Wednesday. MSU's 19th all-American, ranked 13th nationally, will take on California's 37th-ranked Ben McLachlan at 11:30 a.m. ET in the first round. Ilyushin is making his second career appearance in the field, also competing last year. Ilyushin is 15-8 this spring with seven wins over top 40 foes.
Coupland, also making his second-straight appearance in the field, is ranked 56th nationally and will also meet a University of California foe in 58th-ranked Nick Andrews. Those two will square off at 4 p.m. ET. Coupland is 27-8 overall in singles in 2011-12 and has been ranked as high as 32nd nationally.
Cant, ranked 50th nationally, is making his first NCAA Singles showing. He will battle Southern Cal's 51st-ranked Yannick Hanfmann at 6:30 p.m. ET Wednesday. Cant stands at a remarkable 30-6 overall in singles in his final campaign at MSU, the first 30-match winner for State in a single season since 2002.
Coupland and Ilyushin, ranked 25th nationally as a doubles duo, will pair up to meet 21st-ranked Roy Kalmanovich and Dennis Nevolo of Illinois in Thursday's first round at a time to be announced. The MSU pair, which also made the NCAA Doubles field in 2010 together, is 15-5 overall together this season with three top 20 wins under their belt.
Links to tournament live stats can be found at www.hailstate.com and fans can also follow @mstateMT on Twitter for updates.