BATON ROUGE — The LSU men’s tennis team extended its winning streak versus in-state opponents to 76 matches on Monday as the Tigers knocked off the Southeastern Louisiana Lions, 6-1, at the W.T. “Dub” Robinson Tennis Stadium.
“Southeastern came in and gave us some very good competition today,” said LSU head coach Jeff Brown. “They have a good solid team and he (Southeastern Louisiana head coach Jason Hayes) has done an outstanding job of putting that team together in only a couple of years, so I’m glad that they brought that product in here.”
With the victory, LSU (5-0) improved to 4-0 against Louisiana rivals during the 2003 dual-match season and remained undefeated against in-state opponents since 1973. Tulane was the last Louisiana school to defeat the Tigers, as the Green Wave upended LSU, 7-2, in the final match of the 1973 season.
Southeastern (3-3) played the Tigers tough in doubles play on Monday, but relinquished all three matches to give LSU the early 1-0 lead.
In the No. 2 doubles match, LSU’s 24th-ranked combination of Jason Hazley and Bryan Fisher overcame a 6-3 deficit to rally for a 9-7 victory over Southeastern Louisiana’s duo of Josh Smith and Eric Subirats. With the win, the Tiger tandem upped its overall record on the season to 13-2 and a perfect 4-0 mark in dual play.
LSU earned straight-set victories in five of the six singles matches on Monday as the Tigers’ Cory Ross led the way with a dominant 6-0, 6-2 performance against the Lions’ Paul Birket on court No. 6. With the win, Ross improved to an 11-6 overall singles record on the season.
The Tigers’ 74th-ranked Sebastian Rutka rallied for a straight-set victory over Southeastern Louisiana’s Olivier Nussbaum on court No. 2, while Peter Richman topped Haris Huremovic, 6-1, 7-5, in the No. 1 singles match and Fisher dropped the Lions’ Matt Tate on court No. 4, 6-1, 7-5.
Hazley, LSU’s fiery sophomore from Bradenton, Fla., picked up his fifth-consecutive singles win on Monday as the Tigers’ No. 3 player handily defeated Southeastern Louisiana’s Subitas, 6-0, 6-3. With the victory, Hazley remained undefeated in dual-match play and upped his overall record on the season to 12-7.
The Lions’ lone win in singles play came from Milos Vasovic on court No. 5 as the sophomore native of Cacek, Yugoslavia, outlasted LSU’s Paul White in a three-set marathon, 7-6(6), 4-6, 1-0(10). White rallied from a five-point deficit in the third-set super tiebreaker to tie it at 9-9, but ended up losing the deciding set, 12-10.
“They played us really tough on some courts in both singles and doubles,” Brown said. “It was nice to have some of our guys get pushed before we have to go into Texas A&M and the beginning of our SEC schedule.”
The LSU men’s tennis team will next be in action on Saturday, Feb. 15, as the Tigers head to College Station, Texas, to face off with the 10th-ranked Texas A&M Aggies at 1:30 p.m.
LSU def. Southeastern La., 6-1
>b>Doubles
1. #53 Ross/Rutka (LSU) def. Nussbaum/Tate (SELA), 8-2
2. #24 Fisher/Hazley (LSU) def. Josh Smith/Subirats (SELA), 9-7
3. Richman/White (LSU) def. Huremovic/Vosovic (SELA), 8-4
Singles
1. Peter Richman (LSU) def. Haris Huremovic (SELA), 6-1, 7-5
2. #74 Sebastian Rutka (LSU) def. Olivier Nussbaum (SELA), 6-2, 6-3
3. #124 Jason Hazley (LSU) def. Eric Subirats (SELA), 6-0, 6-3
4. #101 Bryan Fisher (LSU) def. Matt Tate (SELA), 6-1, 7-5
5. Milos Vasovic (SELA) def. Paul White (LSU), 7-6(6), 4-6, 1-0(10)
6. Cory Ross (LSU) def. Paul Birket (SELA), 6-0, 6-2
Overall Records: LSU 5-0, Southeastern La. 3-3