BATON ROUGE — After being delayed approximately five hours due to rain, the 19th-ranked LSU men’s tennis team took care of the Vanderbilt Commodores, 6-1, here in the W.T. “Dub” Robinson Tennis Stadium.
“We beat a very good team today, and we beat them pretty badly,” said LSU head coach Jeff Brown. “It was definitely our best singles performance of the season, and that is good because we are heading into a tough stretch of Southeastern Conference matches and Arkansas has a strong singles lineup. I’m proud of how the team played today and I think that everyone did well even in the adverse conditions.”
The Tigers’ Dan Kiernan, a junior from Newcastle, England, clinched the victory for LSU as he handily defeated Vanderbilt’s Bobby Reynolds on court No. 2 in straight sets, 6-4, 6-1. With the win, Kiernan increased his undefeated mark at No. 2 singles to 7-0 on the season. The Tigers are 8-1 as a team this season on court No. 2.
LSU improved its overall record to 7-2 on Saturday, while the Commodores dropped to a 6-4 dual-match record. The Tigers are 1-1 against SEC competition while Vanderbilt remained winless in the conference at 0-3.
The LSU men’s tennis team earned the doubles point with wins on courts No. 2 and 3. The Tigers’ tandem of Jesse Smatt and Sanjin Sadovich defeated Vanderbilt’s combination of Brad Hambrick and Lewis Smith, 8-5, on court No. 2 to clinch the point for LSU.
The Tigers’ eighth-ranked Ajay Ramaswami picked up his ninth victory of the season over a ranked opponent as he handled 75th-ranked Eddie Coates, 6-3, 6-2, on court No. 1. LSU’s freshmen trio of Sadovich, Sebastian Rutka and Bryan Fisher, swept courts No.’s 4-6. Sadovich and Rutka won easily in straight sets, while Fisher was forced to come from behind, 1-6, 6-3, 6-4.
The 19th-ranked LSU men’s tennis team will next be in action on March 7, as the Tigers travel to Fayetteville, Ark., for an SEC battle with Arkansas.
#19 LSU 6, Vanderbilt 1
Singles
1. #8 Ajay Ramaswami (LSU) def. #74 Eddie Coates (VU), 6-3, 6-2.
2. Dan Kiernan (LSU) def. Bobby Reynolds (VU), 6-4, 6-1.
3. Chad Harris (VU) def. #85 Jesse Smatt (LSU), 7-5, 3-6, 6-4.
4. Sanjin Sadovich (LSU) def. Jens Frederiksen (VU), 6-2, 6-1.
5. Sebastian Rutka (LSU) def. Zach Dailey (VU), 6-1, 6-2.
6. Bryan Fisher (LSU) def. Lewis Smith (VU), 1-6, 6-3, 6-4.