BATON ROUGE — Both the 16th-ranked LSU men’s team and the 25th-ranked Lady Tigers were victorious on Friday, as the Tigers held of Kentucky, 4-3, in the opening match of the doubleheader, and then the LSU women’s team blew by Tulsa, 4-1, in the night-cap.
With the win, the Tiger men’s team improved to an overall record of 9-2 and a 3-1 mark versus Southeastern Conference opponents. Kentucky dropped its second-straight match and fell to a 1-1 record in the SEC. The Wildcats have a dual-match record of 7-7 on the season.
“It was another typical SEC match today,” said LSU men’s tennis coach Jeff Brown. “Every match within the conference seems to come down to the wire. On any given day, any team can win in this league, and our guys fought really hard in this match and were able to pull it out.”
The Tigers’ freshman from Krakow, Poland, Sebastian Rutka, clinched LSU’s fourth-straight victory by defeating Kentucky’s Gustav Pousette in a dramatic three-set battle on court No. 4. Rutka won the fourth and final match of the contest by claiming the final set, 6-2, after winning the first, 6-2, and dropping the second, 5-7.
In the LSU women’s match, the Lady Tigers’ Lauren Haddix put away Tulsa on court No. 3 by defeating Jana Sedovic, 7-6(5), 6-2. LSU improved to an overall record of 10-3, while Tulsa dropped to an 8-3 record on the season.
“We started off a little bit sluggish in doubles play, but then I was impressed by how we fought hard and played well in the singles portion,” said LSU women’s coach Tony Minnis. “This was a big win for us today, because Tulsa is a very talented team, and now we just have to get ready for Tennessee on Sunday.”
The LSU tennis teams will host another double-header on Sunday, as the Tigers face seventh-ranked Georgia at noon and the Lady Tigers take on No. 15 Tennessee at 3:30 p.m. Admission is free and the LSU tennis department will provide deli sandwiches for the fans.