BATON ROUGE — The 21st-ranked LSU men’s tennis team was edged out by the 18th-ranked Florida Gators on Sunday, as the Tigers fell one singles victory shy of pulling off a stunning come-from-behind victory at the W.T. “Dub” Robinson Tennis Stadium.
“Obviously, we came out and competed well today,” said LSU head coach Jeff Brown. “I think that we played very well at times, but we just couldn’t execute all the way up and down the lineup. We need to have some guys step up and be consistent winners for us.”
With the overall score of Sunday’s Southeastern Conference battle knotted at 3-3, Florida’s Troy Hahn overcame a first-set deficit against LSU’s Bryan Fisher and earned a hard-fought, 3-6, 6-4, 6-0 victory to secure the win.
Hahn improved to 6-4 in dual-match play and earned his fifth-consecutive win.
The Tigers dropped to an overall record of 3-6 on Sunday. After opening the season 3-0, LSU has lost its previous six matches, all against top-25 opponents. The Tigers fell to 0-4 against SEC opponents and host No. 12 Tennessee and top-ranked Georgia next weekend.
Florida upped its overall dual-match record to 9-1 on the season and improved to a perfect 4-0 versus conference rivals. The Gators’ lone loss of the season was against 14th-ranked Texas A&M, 4-3, in College Station, Texas. Florida moves on to face both Kentucky and Vanderbilt next week.
The turning point of the match came in the doubles contest on court No. 1.
After Florida’s duo of Hahn and Matt Behrmann won, 8-2, on court No. 2 and the Tigers’ Peter Richman and Brandon Nicholson surprised the Gators’ combination of Eleazar Magallan and Ross Greenstein, 9-8(4), on court No. 3, the doubles point came down to court No. 1.
LSU’s No. 1-doubles tandem of Dan Kiernan and Sebastian Rutka were tied in a match-deciding tiebreak against Florida’s 33rd-ranked pair of Hamid Mirzadeh and Chris McDonald, 5-5, when the Gators’ duo reeled off two-straight points to win the match and give Florida an early 1-0 lead. With the win, Mirzadeh and McDonald improved to 14-7 on the season.
In singles play, the Tigers rebounded with straight-set victories on three of the six courts. Kiernan upset No. 70-ranked Mirzadeh, 6-3, 7-6(6), on court No. 1, while freshman Jason Hazley overpowered Florida’s Behrmann on court No. 4, 7-5, 6-1. LSU’s Rutka cruised past Trey Johnson on court No. 5, 6-3, 6-2, for the Tigers’ third victory.
The 21st-ranked LSU men’s tennis team will next be in action on Friday, March 15, as the Tigers host No. 12 Tennessee at 4 p.m. at the W.T. “Dub” Robinson Tennis Stadium.
#18 Florida 4, #21 LSU 3
Doubles
1. #33 Mirzadeh/Chris McDonald (UF) def. Kiernan/Rutka, 9-8(5).
2. Hahn/Behrmann (UF) def. Fisher/Ross, 8-2.
3. Richman/Brandon Nicholson (LSU) def. Magallan/Greenstein, 9-8(4).
Singles
1. Dan Kiernan (LSU) def. #70 Hamid Mirzadeh, 6-3, 7-6(6).
2. #50 Eleazar Magallan (UF) def. Peter Richman, 6-2, 6-3.
3. Troy Hahn (UF) def. Bryan Fisher, 3-6, 6-4, 6-0.
4. Jason Hazley (LSU) def. Matt Behrmann, 7-5, 6-1.
5. Sebastian Rutka (LSU) def. Trey Johnson, 6-3, 6-2.
6. Ross Greenstein (UF) def. Cory Ross, 0-6, 6-4, 6-2.