BATON ROUGE — The 14th-ranked LSU men’s tennis team shut out its third-straight opponent on Tuesday as the Tigers breezed past the Southeastern Lions, 7-0, at home in the “W.T. “Dub” Robinson Tennis Stadium.
“I think that everybody kept their focus very well today in doubles,” said LSU head coach Jeff Brown. “We were able to work on a few things that we’ve been stressing in practice, and it was good to be able to come out and face a good team. They were able to expose a couple of things that we need to get better at, and we’ll work on those things so that we can play even better in our next match.”
LSU improved to 3-0 on the season and extended its winning streak versus in-state opponents to 70-straight. On Saturday, the Tigers swept both Southern and Centenary, 7-0, in the opening day of the dual-match season.
LSU is scheduled to face two additional Louisiana teams this season, UL-Lafayette and the Tigers’ upcoming opponent, the ULM Indians. With the loss, Southeastern dropped to a 1-2 overall record this season.
The Tigers took an early lead in Tuesday’s contest as the team swept the doubles round. On court No. 1, LSU’s duo comprised of Dan Kiernan and Ajay Ramaswami held off SLU’s resurgent combo of Mats Lindelot and Thomas Comba, 8-6. The Tigers’ Jesse Smatt and newcomer Sanjin Sadovich dominated the Lions’ team of Morgan Descant and Milos Vasovich, 8-1, on court No. 3, while LSU’s 14(superscript: th)-ranked doubles team consisting of freshmen Bryan Fisher and Sebastian Rutka solidified the early point on court No. 2 with an 8-3 victory.
LSU swept the singles round without giving up a set. The Tigers’ 8th-ranked Ramaswami was declared the winner on court No. 1 as Southeastern’s Lindelot was forced to retire in the second set, 1-0. Ramaswami won the first set, 6-3. On courts numbered two and three, the result was also in favor of LSU. The Tigers’ Kiernan was victorious in No. 2 singles, 6-4, 6-3, over Subiras, while 63(superscript: rd)-ranked Smatt out-powered his adversary, Comba, on court No. 3, 6-4, 6-1.
Fisher, a native of Nashville, Tenn., improved his overall record as a Tiger to 13-6 on Tuesday by recording a double-bagel on court No. 6 versus the Lions’ Descant. It was his first recorded, 6-0, 6-0, victory at LSU.
The 14th-ranked LSU men’s tennis team will next be in action against Louisiana-Monroe on Wednesday, February 7, at 2 p.m. in the “Dub” Robinson Tennis Stadium. The Tigers’ Ramaswami has been chosen to play in the 2001 ITA Rolex National Indoor Championships beginning on Thursday morning in Dallas, Texas. The singles draw for the ITA Rolex Championships will be released Wednesday night on ITAtennis.com.
#14 LSU 7, Southeastern 0
Doubles
1. Kiernan/Ramaswami (LSU) def. Lindelot/Comba (SLU), 8-6.
2. #14 Fisher/Rutka (LSU) def. Subirats/Darveaux (SLU), 8-3.
3. Smatt/Sadovich (LSU) def. Descant/Vasovich (SLU), 8-1.
Singles
1. #8 Ajay Ramaswami (LSU) def. Mats Lindelot (SLU), 6-3, 1-0 (ret).
2. Dan Kiernan (LSU) def. Eric Subirats (SLU), 6-4, 6-3.
3. #63 Jessie Smatt (LSU) def. Thomas Comba (SLU), 6-4, 6-1.
4. Sanjin Sadovich (LSU) def. Milos Vasovich (SLU), 7-5, 6-3.
5. Sebastian Rutka (LSU) def. Phillipe Darveaux (SLU), 6-1, 6-1.
6. Bryan Fisher (LSU) def. Morgan Descant (SLU), 6-0, 6-0.