A Tennis Post! This is a First!
Well, it's well deserved. The MSU men's tennis team, who are in the midst of a fantastic season, defeated the University of Tennessee Volunteers Sunday afternoon in Knoxville 4-3. The win moved the tennis dogs to 12-4 (3-1 SEC, while the Tennessee men fell to (8-9, 1-3 SEC). The win was also good too see as the dogs were coming off of back to back losses to top 10 opponents Virginia and Georgia.
The dogs were once again led by senior leader and #27 ranked player Artem Ilyushin, who took the 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 victory over #36 ranked Mikelis Libietis.
The dogs opened the day with a doubles victory, as the maroon and white duo of George Coupland/Artem Ilyushin defeated UT duo Jarryd Chaplin/Brandon Fickey 8-5, putting the dogs at a 1-0 overall advantage. The dogs would then split the remaining two double points, taking a 2-1 lead into singles match play.
Outside of Ilyushin's victory at the #1 position, The dogs also secured at the #2 and #6 positions with James Chaudry and Zach White respectively taking the W's home for state.
Through winning this match, State also won the Blue-Gray National Tennis Classic, although I still haven't figured that all out. Either way, it's pretty cool! Here's the link to the Blue-Gray site
Here is the full wrap up of the MSU vs. UT Tennis Matchup at HailState.com
The tennis dogs will have several weeks off before they resume play against the #9 Gators of Florida on Friday, March 23rd in Gainesville.
#HailState