ATHENS, Ga. — The 20th-ranked LSU men’s tennis team fell one point shy of earning a Southeastern Conference weekend sweep on Sunday, as the Tigers lost in heartbreaking fashion against the 23rd-ranked Georgia Bulldogs, 4-3, on the road in Athens, Ga.
With the overall score of Sunday’s contest knotted at 3-3, Georgia’s 34th-ranked Nicolas Boeker earned the match-clinching victory by outlasting the Tigers’ No. 51 Peter Richman, 5-7, 6-3, 6-3, in the No. 2 singles match.
Boeker’s clutch three-set victory secured the Bulldogs’ second conference win of the season.
LSU fell to an overall record of 8-5 on the season and dropped to 2-4 in conference play. The loss marked the Tigers’ fourth defeat on the road and their second by a slim 4-3 margin. Last weekend, LSU fell against 14th-ranked South Carolina, 4-3, in Columbia, S.C.
With the win, Georgia upped its overall record to 6-8 on the season and improved to a 2-3 mark against SEC opponents.
The doubles point proved to be a vital factor in the outcome of Sunday’s match as the Bulldogs earned a crucial 1-0 lead in the contest by winning on courts No. 1 and No. 3. LSU’s tandem of Cory Ross and Sebastian Rutka earned the first victory of the doubles competition on court No. 2 over the Bulldogs’ combination of Stephen Timu and Will Glenn, 8-4, before Georgia rebounded with wins of 8-4 and 8-5 on courts No. 3 and No. 1, respectively.
In singles play, LSU registered wins from Ross, Bryan Fisher, and Paul White.
Ross and White each breezed by their Georgia counterparts on courts No. 5 and No. 6, while Fisher dropped the Bulldogs’ Timu, 5-7, 6-3, 6-3, in the No. 3 singles matchup. Ross, the Tigers’ native of Littleton, Colo., defeated Strahinja Bobusic on court No. 5, 6-4, 6-0, and White, LSU’s highly touted freshman from Lake Charles, dropped Glenn, 6-0, 6-3, on court No. 6.
The 20th-ranked LSU men’s tennis team will next be in action on Saturday, March 22, as the Tigers step out of the SEC to play host to the 15th-ranked Texas Longhorns at 1 p.m. at the W.T. “Dub” Robinson Tennis Stadium.
#23 Georgia (6-8, 2-3 SEC) def. #20 LSU (8-5, 2-4 SEC), 4-3
Doubles
1. #51 Hodge/Boeker (UGA) def. #16 Hazley/Fisher (LSU), 8-5
2. Ross/Rutka (LSU) def. Timu/Glenn (UGA), 8-4
3. Bobusic/Luchici (UGA) def. White/Nicholson (LSU), 8-4
Order of finish: 2, 3, 1
Singles
1. #3 Bo Hodge (UGA) def. Jason Hazley (LSU), 6-2, 6-3
2. #34 Nicolas Boeker (UGA) def. #51 Peter Richman (LSU), 5-7, 6-3, 6-3
3. Bryan Fisher (LSU) def. Stephan Timu (UGA), 5-7, 6-3, 6-3
4. Raian Luchici (UGA) def. Sebastian Rutka (LSU), 6-4, 6-3
5. Cory Ross (LSU) def. Strahinja Bobusic (UGA), 6-4, 6-0
6. Paul White (LSU) def. Will Glenn (UGA), 6-0, 6-3
Order of finish: 6, 5, 1, 4, 3, 2