BATON ROUGE — The 16th-ranked LSU men’s tennis team handed the Texas-Arlington Mavericks a 7-0 defeat on Wednesday, as the Tigers recorded their sixth-shutout victory of the season at home in the W.T. “Dub” Robinson Tennis Stadium.
“UTA is a very good team,” said LSU head coach Jeff Brown. “We did a good job of getting through this one today. I think that a lot of our guys’ eyes were already on our next match against Tennessee, and that’s very dangerous, but we were able to get away with it this time. Hopefully, since we already have so much focus on Tennessee, that it will pay off for us on Saturday.”
With the Tigers leading the match by a score of 3-0, LSU’s 11th-ranked Ajay Ramaswami clinched the team’s 10th victory of the season by defeating UTA’s 67th-ranked Andy Leber on court No. 1, 7-6(5), 6-2. The win marked Ramaswami’s 20th win of the season, as well as his 11th victory over ranked opponents. Ramaswami has accumulated an overall record of 20-11.
LSU improved to a 10-3 dual-match record on Wednesday and a 7-1 mark versus non-conference opponents. With the win, the Tigers recorded their 15th-straight home victory over a non-conference opponent. LSU’s last home loss to a non-Southeastern Conference team was a 4-3 loss to Indiana in 1999.
Texas-Arlington snapped its three-match winning streak on Wednesday and dropped to an overall record of 10-6. Despite Wednesday’s defeat, the Mavericks still own a 5-2 record while playing on the road.
The Tigers earned the first point of the match by winning all three doubles contests. On court No. 2, LSU’s 41st-ranked doubles team comprised of Sanjin Sadovich and Jesse Smatt clinched the point by dominating UTA’s Per-Erik Karlsson and Tom Zarzeczny, 8-2. The Tigers’ No. 1 doubles team of Daniel Kiernan and Sebastian Rutka overcame a 7-4 deficit against the Mavericks’ Leber and David Corrie to complete the sweep, 9-7.
In singles play, four of the six matches were decided in the third set.
LSU’s Rutka defeated Zarzeczny, 6-1, 0-6, 6-4, on court No. 3, while Sadovich held on to beat UTA’s Corrie in a third-set super tiebreaker on court No. 4, 7-6(6), 5-7, 10-6. In the No. 6 singles match, the Tigers’ Anthony Mateljan outlasted the Mavericks’ Ola Bentzen, 6-1, 5-7, 6-1. LSU’s 82nd-ranked Jesse Smatt ended a four-match losing skid on Wednesday by picking up his 17th win of the season over Alon Goldshuv on court No. 5.
In the quickest match of the afternoon, the Tigers’ Kiernan extended his winning streak to six-straight victories by defeating Per-Erik Karlsson, 7-5, 6-2, in the No. 2 singles match. With the win, Kiernan improved to an overall record of 18-6 and an undefeated 11-0 record on court No. 2.
“We were lucky to beat this team by a score of 7-0 after having four matches go to a third set,” Brown said. “Now, we’re just going to have to work hard these next couple of days and get ready for Tennessee. We’re alsogoing to need a good turnout from the fans on Saturday to give Tennessee a Tiger welcome. Our players really feed off of the energy of the fans.”
The 16th-ranked LSU men’s tennis team will next be in action on Saturday at 1 p.m., as the Tigers host the sixth-ranked Tennessee Volunteers in the “Dub” Robinson Tennis Stadium. Admission is free for Saturday’s SEC contest and the LSU tennis department will provide deli sandwiches for the fans at the beginning of the match.
#16 LSU: 7, Texas-Arlington: 0
Singles
1. #11 Ajay Ramaswami (LSU) def. #67 Andy Leber (UTA), 7-6(5), 6-2.
2. Dan Kiernan (LSU) def. Per-Erik Karlsson (UTA), 7-5, 6-2.
3. Sebastian Rutka (LSU) def. Tom Zarzeczny (UTA), 6-1, 0-6, 6-4.
4. Sanjin Sadovich (LSU) def. David Corrie (UTA), 7-6(6), 5-7, 10-6.
5. #82 Jesse Smatt (LSU) def. Alon Goldshuv (UTA), 0-6, 6-4, 6-1.
6. Anthony Mateljan (LSU) def. Ola Bentzen (UTA), 6-1, 5-7, 6-1.
Doubles
1. Kiernan/Rutka (LSU) def. Leber/Corrie (UTA), 9-7.
2. #41 Smatt/Sadovich (LSU) def. Karlsson/Zarzeczny (UTA), 8-2.
3. Mateljan/Ramaswami (LSU) def. Bentzen/Mark Illgner (UTA), 8-3.