BATON ROUGE — The LSU men’s tennis team swept both the UL-Monroe Indians, 7-0, and the Southern Jaguars, 5-0, in a regular-season ending doubleheader on Tuesday at the W.T. “Dub” Robinson Tennis Stadium.
“We were able to use these matches today as a chance to make a couple of game adjustments,” said LSU head coach Jeff Brown. “We tried to work on the guys’ footwork today and on being aggressive and the guys were able to incorporate that into their matches. We were also to work on our serves and we were able to get two wins. So it was good for us.”
With the victories, LSU upped its overall record on the season to 9-12 and improved to a 7-3 mark against non-conference opponents. Tuesday’s 5-0 win over Southern (11-11) was the Tigers’ second victory over the Jaguars this season. LSU defeated Southern, 6-0, in a season-opening doubleheader.
The Tigers rallied behind straight-set victories on all six courts to knock off UL-Monroe (9-13) in the first match of the doubleheader. LSU was led by sophomore Sebastian Rutka, as the native of Krakow, Poland, clinched the Tiger victory by defeating the Indians’ Mark Edney, 6-1, 6-2, in the No. 3 singles match.
In the second contest of the twin bill, LSU defeated an out-manned Jaguar squad, 5-0. Southern was forced to play with only five players after a recent rash of injuries and had to concede the match on court No. 6.
LSU’s 89th-ranked Dan Kiernan earned his second relaxed victory of day, as the Tigers’ senior All-American dropped Southern’s Alex Hidalgo, 6-3, 6-4, on court No. 1. With the win, Kiernan clinched the Tigers’ second victory of the day and improved his overall record on the season to 19-14. Kiernan defeated ULM’s Bart Dabrowski, 6-3, 6-1, in the first match.
The closest match of the day took place in the No. 3 singles match between LSU and Southern. The Jaguars’ towering Benjamin Deube won the first set, 7-6(5), while LSU’s Bryan Fisher rebounded to win the second set, 6-4, before the match was suspended due to time constraints. Fisher knocked off UL-Monroe’s Stan Nevolovich, 6-2, 6-2, in the first contest of the doubleheader.
The Tigers’ promising sophomore, Brandon Nicholson, earned a pair of straight-set victories on Tuesday. LSU’s native of New Iberia defeated the Indians’ Greg Beinvenu, 6-1, 6-0, on court No. 6 against ULM and then outplayed Southern’s Gregory Pipkins in No. 5 singles play, 6-3, 6-1. With the wins, Nicholson upped his overall record on the season to 9-6.
The LSU men’s tennis team will next be in action on Thursday at 8 a.m., as the Tigers challenge the No. 18-ranked Alabama Crimson Tide in the first round of the Southeastern Conference Tournament in Knoxville, Tenn.
LSU 7, UL-Monroe 0
Doubles
1. Kiernan/Jason Hazley (LSU) def. Newman/Edney (ULM), 8-4*
2. Dabrowski/Nevolovich (ULM) def. Fisher/Richman (LSU), 8-6
3. Ross/Rutka (LSU) def. Fremin/Bienvenu (ULM), 8-0
Singles
1. #89 Dan Kiernan (LSU) def. Bart Dabrowski (ULM), 6-3, 6-1
2. Peter Richman (LSU) def. Paul Newman (ULM), 6-4, 6-4
3. Sebastian Rutka (LSU) def. Mark Edney (ULM), 6-1, 6-2*
4. Bryan Fisher (LSU) def. Stan Nevolovich (ULM), 6-2, 6-2
5. Cory Ross (LSU) def. Bart Fremin (ULM), 6-2, 6-1
6. Brandon Nicholson (LSU) def. Greg Beinvenu (ULM), 6-1, 6-0
LSU 5, Southern 0
Doubles were not played
Singles
1. #89 Dan Kiernan (LSU) def. Alex Hidalgo (SU), 6-3, 6-4
2. Jason Hazley (LSU) def. Michael Date (SU), 6-0, 6-3
3. Bryan Fisher (LSU) vs. Benjamin Deube (SU), unfinished
4. Sebastian Rutka (LSU) def. David Ensignia (SU), 6-1, 6-1
5. Brandon Nicholson (LSU) def. Gregory Pipkins (SU), 6-3, 6-1
6. Southern defaulted the match.