March 4, 2012
STARKVILLE, Miss. - Auburn's men's tennis team put up a tough fight against No. 14 Mississippi State on Sunday afternoon, but came up short in a 5-2 loss to the Bulldogs at the A.J. Pitts Tennis Center.
No. 12 Auburn (10-4, 0-2 SEC) ran into trouble early in the doubles competition, dropping the doubles point for the second time in two conference matches as Mississippi State (11-3, 2-0) got wins from a pair of ranked teams at the Nos. 1 and 2 positions.
The 41st-ranked Bulldog duo of George Coupland and Artem Ilyushin gave MSU the early advantage with an 8-3 win on court two over Andreas Mies and Lukas Ollert, and the 23rd-ranked team of Louis Cant and Malte Stropp put the Bulldogs on the board by defeating Alex Stamchev and Daniel Cochrane on court one, 8-6. Auburn's Lucas Lopasso and Rafael Rondino kept Mississippi State from sweeping the doubles portion with a 9-8 (12-10) win over James Chaudry and Ethan Wilkinson at the No. 3 position.
In singles, Stamchev would even the match with a straight-sets win over Chaudry at the No. 2 spot, 6-4, 6-1, but the Bulldogs would retake the lead as 41st-ranked Coupland downed Lopasso, 6-2, 6-4 on court five.
Michael Wardell would improve to 2-0 on the season at No. 6 singles with a 6-2, 6-4 win over Zach White to even the match at 2-2. But from there, all the matches would go Mississippi State's way. No. 27 Ilyushin held off Mies with a 7-5, 6-2 win, and Cochrane took 75th-ranked Stropp to a third set before falling, 3-6, 6-3, 6-1, to clinch the match for the Bulldogs. Auburn's Ollert, ranked 118th in the nation, pushed 37th-ranked Cant to the limit before falling, 7-6 (9-7), 7-5, to finish off the match.
The Tigers will return home to the Yarbrough Tennis Center for the first time in nearly a month to open their home conference schedule. Auburn will face Arkansas at 2 p.m. Friday, March 9, before welcoming LSU at 1 p.m. Sunday, March 11. Admission is free to all Auburn home tennis matches.
Auburn Men's Tennis Results
March 4, 2012
A.J. Pitts Tennis Center - Starkville, Miss.
#14 Mississippi State 4, #12 Auburn 3
Singles
1. #27 Artem Ilyushin (MSU) def. #20 Andreas Mies (AU), 7-5, 6-2
2. Alex Stamchev (AU) def. James Chaudry (MSU), 6-4, 6-1
3. #75 Malte Stropp (MSU) def. Daniel Cochrane (AU), 3-6, 6-3, 6-1
4. #37 Louis Cant (MSU) def. #118 Lukas Ollert (AU), 7-6 (9-7), 7-5
5. #41 George Coupland (MSU) def. Lucas Lopasso (AU), 6-2, 6-4
6. Michael Wardell (AU) def. Zach White (MSU), 6-2, 6-4
Order of finish: 2, 5, 6, 1, 3, 4
Doubles
1. #23 Louis Cant/Malte Stropp (MSU) def. Alex Stamchev/Daniel Cochrane (AU), 8-6
2. #41 George Coupland/Artem Ilyushin (MSU) def. Andreas Mies/Lukas Ollert (AU), 8-3
3. Lucas Lopasso/Rafael Rondino (AU) def. James Chaudry/Ethan Wilkinson (MSU), 9-8 (12-10)
Order of finish: 2, 1, 3