The No. 14 Mississippi State men’s tennis team began conference play with a sweep of Alabama and No. 12 Auburn over the weekend.
The Bulldogs began their quest for a conference title on Saturday as they defeated Alabama 6-1. After dropping the opening doubles point, MSU responded by sweeping the singles points, lead by George Coupland’s 6-1, 6-1 win.
The Bulldogs’ momentum carried into Sunday afternoon as they took a hard-fought battle from No. 12 Auburn 5-2.
The Maroon and White will now look to some tough competition in the schedule beginning with today’s match against No. 4 Virginia before a three-game road trip to Georgia, Tennessee and Florida who all rank in the top 20.
“Recovery is so important, but we have to take one match at a time,” Coupland said. “Virginia is going to be a real test for us, and it’s going to be a test for them as well. I’m telling you that right now.”
With the win MSU improves to 11-2 on the year and 2-0 in conference play. Head coach Per Nilsson said he is pleased with his team’s start and looks to build upon the success.
“We competed really well this weekend,” Nilsson said. “We have to clean some things up and give the guys some confidence, and I hope with this weekend we can build on that.”
Against the Tide on Saturday, MSU’s 27th-ranked Artem Ilyushin and Zach White followed Coupland’s singles victory with wins of 6-3, 6-3 and 7-5, 7-5 respectively. Malte Stropp then clinched the match with a 6-1, 4-6, 6-2 win to give the Dogs the victory. Quickly following, James Chaudry took a 6-3, 4-6, 6-2 win to extend the Maroon and White lead to 5-1, and, on the final match of the day, 37th-ranked Louis Cant had taken a 6-7, 6-2, 1-0 lead before his opponent retired in the third set and gave the Dogs the 6-1 win.
In Sunday’s showdown with Auburn, MSU struck first in doubles with wins of 8-3 and 8-6 to earn the first point of the match. After Chaudry dropped a tough opening singles point 6-4, 6-1, Coupland responded with a 6-2, 6-4 win to put his team back on top 2-1. Auburn then tied the match after White fell 6-2, 6-4 before Ilyushin won a 7-5, 6-2 decision, which was a hard-fought win for the senior.
“I told myself, ‘You have to be emotional; you have to be fired up,'” Ilyushin said. “Regardless that I won, I set the goals for myself for the match and tried to complete them.” 
Sophomore Stropp then rallied to clinch the match point for the Dogs for the second time on the weekend with a 3-6, 6-3, 6-1 win.
Stropp, who is the reigning SEC Freshman of the Year, said he was proud of his team’s overall performance.
“Clincher is always fun because you’re the one who actually clinches the match, but it doesn’t matter if you clinch or not because every point counts,” he said. “I’m very proud of the guys because the way we fought today was really good.”
Cant, who is 11-0 in singles  play this spring, earned a 7-6, 7-5 win to set the 5-2 final.
Coupland, who is now on an eight-match winning streak, said he was pleased with his performance on the weekend.
 ”I’m going out there to purely play the way that I play, and it pays off,” Coupland said. “I played pretty good this weekend. I really served well and hit my forehand well and moved well which is really good, and obviously the score shows that.”
The Dogs host the Cavaliers on Tuesday at 2 p.m. at the A.J. Pitts Tennis Centre, and admission is free to all fans. MSU will not play again at home until March 25 when it takes on South Carolina in a Friday afternoon matchup.