BATON ROUGE — The 15th-ranked LSU men’s tennis team cruised to an early 2-0 dual-match record on Saturday, as the Tigers breezed by both Centenary, 7-0, and Southern, 6-0, at home in the W.T. “Dub” Robinson Tennis Stadium.
“We went through the process of dual matches today and everything went well,” said LSU head coach Jeff Brown. “A couple of guys went out and dominated their positions which is very important, because in the SEC there are very few opportunities to do that. They took advantage of it and competed very strongly.”
The Tigers were led by 42nd-ranked Dan Kiernan and 85th-ranked Bryan Fisher on Saturday. Kiernan, LSU’s senior and team captain, earned straight-set victories on court No. 1 over Centenary’s Todd Killen, 6-2, 6-3, and Southern’s Tommie Pernell, 6-2, 6-2. With the victories, Kiernan upped his 2001-02 overall record to 9-6.
Fisher, LSU’s sophomore No. 2 player from Nashville, Tenn., overcame a close opening match against Jimmy Allen of Centenary to dominate Southern’s Alex Hidalgo, 6-2, 6-0, in his second match of the day. Fisher improved to an overall mark of 11-8 on the season with the wins.
The LSU men’s tennis team improved to 2-0 on Saturday, while Centenary dropped to an overall record of 0-2 on the season. Southern ended the day’s competition with a 1-2 dual-match record.
The Tigers’ highly-touted freshmen Peter Richman and Jason Hazley each picked up two victories on Saturday, along with sophomore Brandon Nicholson. Richman owns LSU’s best record this season with an impressive mark of 13-5.
LSU’s Jesse Smatt and Sebastian Rutka also earned wins during Saturday’s competition.
The 15th-ranked LSU men’s tennis team will next be in action on February 10, as the Tigers host the New Mexico Lobos at 1 p.m. in the W.T. “Dub” Robinson Tennis Stadium.
#15 LSU def. Centenary, 7-0.
Doubles
1. #47 Kiernan/Rutka (LSU) def. Killen/Allen (Cent), 8-1.
2. Fisher/Richman (LSU) def. Roberts/Ashley (Cent), 8-0.
3. Smatt/Hazley (LSU) def. Cope/Lewis (Cent.), 8-1.
Singles
1. #42 Dan Kiernan (LSU) def. Todd Killen (Cent.), 6-2, 6-3.
2. #85 Bryan Fisher (LSU) def. Jimmy Allen (Cent), 6-1, 7-5.
3. Peter Richman (LSU) def. J.T. Cope (Cent), 6-0, 6-1.
4. Jason Hazley (LSU) def. Caleb Ashley (Cent), 6-1, 6-1.
5. Jesse Smatt (LSU) def. Mark Lewis (Cent), 6-2, 6-2.
6. Brandon Nicholson (LSU) def. Nathan Bridges (Cent), 6-0, 6-4.
#15 LSU def. Southern, 6-0.
Singles
1. #42 Dan Kiernan (LSU) def. Tommie Pernell (SU), 6-2, 6-2.
2. #85 Bryan Fisher (LSU) def. Alex Hidalgo (SU), 6-2, 6-0.
3. Peter Richman (LSU) def. Greg Pipkins (SU), 6-1, 6-2.
4. Jason Hazley (LSU) def. Ben Neube (SU), 6-2, 6-1.
5. Sebastian Rutka (LSU) def. David Ensignia (SU), 6-1, 7-6(2).
6. Brandon Nicholson (LSU) def. Mike Date (SU), 6-1, 6-1.