BATON ROUGE — The LSU men’s tennis team competed in day two of the LSU Showcase Saturday, at the W.T. “Dub” Robinson Tennis Stadium.
“It’s been a successful weekend for us on the court,” said head coach Jeff Brown. “We’ve gotten a lot of work done and we’ve played a lot of matches.”
Senior Dan Kiernan remained the strong point for the Tigers. Kiernan stayed undefeated in Round Robin play getting past No. 52 Paco Antelo of South Florida in his only match, 7-5, 6-1.
Senior Jesse Smatt, sophomore Bryan Fisher, and freshman Jason Hazley weren’t as lucky. They each dropped their only match of the day. Smatt fell to Jorge Escallon of South Florida in three sets, 4-6, 6-1, 10-8. Fisher also took his opponent the distance, before finally falling to No. 15 Michal Kogan of Tulane, 4-6, 6-3, 10-4. Hazley lost in straight sets to Viktor Loven of UNO, 7-5, 7-6.
“We’ve have guys who have had to recover after having lost a match, which is what you will have to do at an SEC tournament, team tournament, or NCAA tournament,” Brown said. “The team has to go on and play the next round. You have to be able to regroup and that’s what we’ve learned this weekend.”
One bright spot for the Tigers on the day was Peter Richman. Richman advanced to the finals of the LSU Showcase after defeating Johan Vanderwesthuizen of UL-Lafayette in three sets, 7-5, 3-6, 6-3.
In the Doubles Draw, Smatt and Hazley of LSU teamed up to knock off Jakub Ilowski and Vanderwesthuizen of UL-Lafayette, 8-3. That win, propelled them to the championship game where they will meet two of their own teammates, Kiernan and Fisher. Kiernan and Fisher defeated Mikael Chkroun and Loven of UNO, also by a score of, 8-3.
Singles
Brandon Nicholson (LSU) def. Adrian Meier (USF), 6-4, 2-6, 10-4
Eric Gildhorn (USF) def. Michael Tarchowski (ULL), 6-0, 7-5
#29 Dan Kiernan (LSU) def. #52 Paco Antelo (USF), 7-5, 6-1
Viktor Loven (UNO) def. Jason Hazley (LSU), 7-5, 7-6
Michal Kogan (Tulane) def. Bryan Fisher (LSU), 4-6, 6-3, 10-4
Jorge Escallon (USF) def. #72 Jesse Smatt (LSU), 4-6, 6-1, 10-8
Eric Gildhorn (USF) def. Brandon Nicholson (LSU), 6-2, 6-7, 10-7
Peter Richman (LSU) def. Viktor Loven (UNO) 6-1, 6-2
Jakub Ilowski (ULL) def. Jorge Escallon (USF) 6-3, 4-6, 10-4
#15 Michal Kogan (Tulane) def. #52 Paco Antello (USF) 3-6, 6-3, 10-8
Doubles
Dan Kiernan/Bryan Fisher (LSU) def. Jakub Ilowski/Johan Vanderwesthuizen (ULL), 8-3
Jesse Smatt/Jason Hazley (LSU) def. Viktor Loven/Mikael Chkroun (UNO), 8-3