ATLANTA — The 15th-ranked Georgia Tech men’s tennis team held off a charge by No. 21 Mississippi State to earn a 4-1 victory Saturday in the second round of the NCAA Championships on the Georgia Tech campus.
The loss ended MSU’s season at 14-9, while Georgia Tech (21-5) advances to the Sweet 16.
“It was disappointing to end the season today, especially on a match we could have won,” MSU coach Per Nilsson said. “The guys did a great job fighting back and we had an opportunity to win. I’m really proud of our guys and what they accomplished this year. They are a great group and will come back strong next year.”
In doubles, MSU’s George Coupland and Artem Ilyushin lost to Eliot Potvin and Ryan Smith 8-3 at No. 2.
At the top spot, MSU’s 37th-ranked tandem of Louis Cant and Malte Stropp lost to the No. 14 team of Kevin King and Juan Spir 8-5.
The Yellow Jackets claimed five out of six first sets, but the Bulldogs denied the early push by evening two of those matches with second-set wins.
On court 2, MSU’s 60th-ranked Coupland dropped an early first set 6-1 to Spir. Coupland rallied to take the second and third frames 6-3, tying the score at 1-1.
Moments later, MSU’s 61st-ranked Ilyushin lost 6-2, 7-6 (3) to give the Yellow Jackets a 2-1 lead.
On court 3, State’s 92nd-ranked Stropp was in a fierce battle with Georgia Tech’s King, but King held on for a 6-2, 6-3 victory.
With MSU leading on No. 4 and No. 5, Georgia Tech held a one-set advantage on No. 6 and O’Brien gained a service break lead on White. O’Brien went on to earn a 6-4, 6-4 victory to clinch the match.
n Ole Miss falls to UCLA in second round: At Los Angeles, the Rebels built a 3-1 lead against the 12th-seeded Bruins only to have them rally for a 4-3 win.
With the loss, Ole Miss’ season ends at 13-10, while UCLA (18-6) advances to face Baylor in the Sweet 16.
The match came down to No. 5 singles, where UCLA senior Holden Seguso rallied against freshman Johan Backstrom to clinch the victory in a third set tiebreaker, 7-6 (4). Backstrom won the first set 6-4, but Seguso took the second set 6-3 and gained a 5-3 lead in the third, before Backstrom won two straight games to even it up at 5-5.
“We had a great chance to win this match on the road against a very good team, so it’s obviously disappointing,” Ole Miss coach Billy Chadwick said. “The guys played their best match of the year against a perennial power in UCLA.”
The Rebels struck first in the match winning the doubles point. Marcel Thiemann and Chris Thiemann downed Alex Brigham and Adrian Puget 8-3 at No. 1 before Tucker Vorster and Jonas Lutjen defeated Warren Hardie and Amit Inbar 8-5 at No. 2.
UCLA evened the match when Maxime Tabatruong defeated Adrian Forberg Skogeng 6-1, 6-2 at No. 6 singles.
The Rebels regained the lead (3-1) with straight set wins on courts three and four. Chris Thiemann beat UCLA’s Adrian Puget 6-4, 6-3 at No. 4 singles and then Lutjen finished off a huge win against 79th-ranked Clay Thompson 7-6 (4), 6-1 at No. 3.
UCLA got to within one when Amit Inbar held off senior Vorster 7-6 (4), 4-6, 6-3 at No. 2 singles.
In a battle between two top 40 players, Marcel Thiemann could have given the Rebels the victory at No. 1 singles as he served for the match at 5-4 in the third set against UCLA freshman Daniel Kosakowski. At 5-4, Thiemann, ranked No. 36, got broke and then Kosakowski, ranked No. 37, went on to win the final two games to clinch the victory. Thiemann lost the first set to Kosakowski but then rallied to get the second set 6-1.
n On Friday, MSU defeated Florida State in the opening round of the NCAA Championship.
The victory was MSU’s sixth straight against FSU (9-15), and marked the first time the team has advanced past the first round of the NCAA tournament since 2004.
In a fight for the doubles point, MSU and FSU battled on all three courts. In the second position, the Bulldog tandem of George Coupland and Artem Ilyushin ousted Jordan Kelly and Houston and Blake Davis 8-3.
On court 3, FSU’s Anderson Reed and Andres Bucaro took an early 4-1 lead against James Chaudry and Zach White, but MSU fought back to win five straight games for an 8-5 win that clinched the point.
In singles, Louis Cant, who is ranked 86th nationally, won 6-4, 6-0 at No. 5. Malte Stropp, who is ranked 92nd, won 6-3, 6-4 at No. 3 singles.
After dropping the first set 6-4, White fought back to take the next two sets 6-4 to clinch his third match of the year for the Bulldogs.
“The match was a lot closer than what the score shows,” said Nilsson, who picked up his first NCAA win as a head coach. “We did a great job fighting, and it was promising we played as a group. Everybody did what we wanted them to do besides the nerves of playing in the first round of the NCAAs.”
n Ole Miss : At Los Angeles,
n On Friday, the men’s tennis team defeated UC Irvine 4-1 in the first round of the NCAA tournament at the Los Angeles Tennis Center on the campus of UCLA.
“This was a good one to get,” Ole Miss coach Billy Chadwick said. “We played really well in doubles and then we played solid in singles. They were good at every position, especially at No. 1.”
Ole Miss’ Marcel Thiemann and Chris Thiemann got back on the winning track, downing Chris Kearney and Stephen Stege 8-2 at No. 1 doubles. Tucker Vorster and Jonas Lutjen clinched the point with an 8-4 win at No. 2 doubles against Sam Gould and Steven Henderson.
Chris Thiemann put the Rebels up 2-0 with a 6-2, 6-3 victory at No. 4 singles to win his 10th dual match of the season.
UC Irvine’s only point came when Fabian Matthews defeated Lutjen 6-3, 6-3 at No. 3 singles.
Freshman Johan Backstrom, playing in his first NCAA match, finished off a 6-4, 6-3 win against Shan Sondhu at No. 5. Vorster then won 7-5, 6-1 at No. 2 to clinch the victory.
n In related news, Vorster and Marcel Thiemann earned Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Southern Regional Awards this week.
Vorster, one of two seniors on the team, received the Arthur Ashe Jr., Sportsmanship and Leadership Award. This award recognizes outstanding individuals who have exhibited outstanding sportsmanship and leadership as well as scholastic, extracurricular and tennis achievements.
Thiemann earned the ITA Southern Region Player to Watch Award. This award goes to a player who has had an outstanding season and is expected to perform at a high level the rest of his or her career.
Women
Ole Miss loses to Arizona State in first round of NCAA tournament: At Atlanta, Ole Miss and Arizona State battled for nearly five hours on Saturday morning at the Bill Moore Tennis Center, but the Rebels came up short in a 4-3 loss in the first round of the NCAA Championships.
With the loss, Ole Miss concludes the season 11-11.
The match came down to the final one on court two between All-Southeastern Conference senior Connor Vogel and freshman Jacqueline Cako, who is ranked No. 12 in the nation. Vogel claimed the first set 6-3, but Cako took the second 6-3. Cako gained an early break in the third, but Vogel broke back and pulled even at 5-5. Vogel had a game point for a 6-5 lead, but Cako hit a nice passing shot and ended up with the break. She held for 7-5 to clinch the victory.
“You had two great teams playing a fantastic college match. We just came up short,” head coach Mark Beyers said. “It’s tough to lose when you play that well, but the girls gave it everything they had.”
The Rebels fell behind 3-1 before picking up wins at four and one to even the match. Senior Laura van de Stroet got the Rebels to within one as she rallied to beat Hannah James 1-6, 6-3, 6-3 at No. 4 singles.
Ole Miss junior All-American Kristi Boxx beat 19th-ranked Kelcy McKenna 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 at at No. 1.
After ASU took a 2-0 lead by winning the doubles point and No. 3 singles, junior Abby Guthrie put the Rebels on the board with a 7-5, 6-3 win against Michelle Brycki at No. 5 singles. The Sun Devils increased their lead to 3-1 with a win
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 43 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.