LOUISVILLE — The No. 1 ranked LSU tennis team survived its first test of the young season on Thursday afternoon with a 4-3 win over No. 19 Southern Cal Thursday afternoon in the first round the the ITA National Men’s Team Indoor Championships.
With the win LSU (4-0) advances to the quarterfinals of the Rolex National Indoor Championships where it will face 14th-ranked Tennessee.
“This was an outstanding win for us,” said LSU coach Jeff Brown. “Everybody contributed today in doubles and singles and that is what you need to come away with a victory in college tennis today.”
With the match knotted at 3-3, senior Ed Rubin came through for the Tigers with a 6-4, 7-5 upset win over No. 69 Andrew Park at No. 3 singles.
LSU also earned points at Nos. 2 and 6 singles and took the doubles point from Southern Cal.
Senior Tom Hand, ranked No. 15 nationally, beat 80th-ranked Ryan Moore in the No. 2 singles position 6-3, 6-4. The victory was the 95th of Hand’s career moving him into sole possession of seventh place in LSU history for career wins.
On court six, junior Ajay Ramaswami picked up a straight set victory over Parker Collins, 7-5, 6-3.
“I am very proud of Tom, Ed and Ajay in the singles,” said Brown. “But it was a total team effort. Michal (Chmela), Dan (Kiernan) and Jesse (Smatt) each had wins in doubles and were a part of this victory.”
Doubles action saw LSU’s team of Chmela-Kiernan rout the fourth-ranked doubles team in the nation, Ryan Moore-Nicholas Rainey, 8-3.
The team of Smatt-Ramaswami clinched the point with an 8-5 victory over Collins-Andrew Park at No. 3.
In the experimental format being used for the tournament, LSU could have taken a 2-0 lead by sweeping the three doubles matches, but USC denied the Tigers the sweep with a win at No. 2.
Patrick Gottesleben-Daniel Langre knocked off LSU’s Hand-Rubin to hold LSU’s lead to 1-0.
USC took a 2-1 lead by capitalizing on more of the new experimental rules. Both Gottesleben at No. 1 and Rainey at No. 4 won in three set matches where the third set was decided by a match tiebreaker (first to 10, win by two).
Gottesleben, ranked 33rd, upset 18th-ranked Chmela 4-6, 6-1, 1-0 (10-5). Rainey then rallied for a 2-6, 6-2, 1-0 (10-8) win over Kiernan.
“The new format was a real crapshoot as far as playing the tiebreaker in the third set. It didn’t turn out in our favor in a couple of matches and it made the match a lot closer,” said Brown of the two three-set losses.
Doubles
No. 1 Chmela/Kiernan (LSU) def. #4 Moore/Rainey (USC), 8-3
No. 2 Gottesleben/Langre (USC) def. Hand/Rubin (LSU), 8-6
No. 3 Smatt/Ramaswami (LSU) def. Collins/Park (USC), 8-5**
Singles
No. 1 #32 Patrick Gottesleben (USC) def. #18 Michal Chmela (LSU), 4-6, 6-3, 1-0 (10-5)
No. 2 #15 Tom Hand (LSU) def. #79 Ryan Moore (USC), 6-3, 6-4
No. 3 Ed Rubin (LSU) def. #68 Andrew Park (USC), 6-4, 7-5*
No. 4 Nick Rainey (USC) def. Dan Kiernan (LSU), 2-6, 6-2, 1-0 (10-8)
No. 5 #51 Daniel Langre (USC) def. Jesse Smatt (LSU), 6-4, 6-2
No. 6 Ajay Ramaswami (LSU) def. Parker Collins (USC), 7-5, 6-3
* Clinched Match
** Clinched doubles point
Next Match:
Quarterfinals: LSU (4-0) vs. Tennessee at 11:30 a.m. CST Friday
Consolation: USC (6-3) vs. Baylor