BATON ROUGE — Despite missing one of its six starters, the 18th-ranked LSU men’s tennis team forced three third-set tiebreakers on Thursday as the Tigers fell to the top-ranked Illinois Fighting Illini, 6-1, at the W.T. “Dub” Robinson Tennis Stadium.
“I think that our team did a good job of fighting hard today and it will be a big boost for some of our players,” said LSU head coach Jeff Brown. “All of our guys that took their match to a third set today all understand that they can compete against some of the nation’s highest-ranked players. With a little better performance from a couple of our guys, then it’s a lot closer match and I think we’ll build from this.”
LSU (11-8) lost its fourth match of the season against a top-10 ranked team on Thursday. Prior to their 6-1 defeat versus No. 1 Illinois, the Tigers fell prey to second-ranked Florida, No. 5 Ole Miss and the eighth-ranked Vanderbilt Commodores. All eight of LSU’s losses during the 2003 dual-match season have come against teams currently ranked among the nation’s top 20.
Cory Ross, LSU’s junior from Littleton, Colo., was not able to compete in Thursday’s non-conference matchup due to a severe case of the flu. Ross, who typically competes at the No. 4 singles position and the No. 2 doubles slot, is the 117th-ranked singles player in the nation.
“Cory was just knocked out for this match,” Brown said. “He’s been struggling with a tough bout of the flu for the past couple of days and the doctor gave him a shot today, but it just knocked him out. He is getting better and should be fine for Saturday’s match against Arkansas.”
Illinois (19-0) jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the contest by earning the doubles point.
On court No. 2, the Illini’s sixth-ranked duo of Amer Delic and Michael Calkins rallied past LSU’s Sebastian Rutka and Paul White, 8-2, while Illinios’ 35th-ranked pair of Phil Stolt and Chris Martin clinched the doubles point by defeating the Tigers’ Brandon Nicholson and Peter Richman, 9-7, on court No. 3. With the win, Delic and Calkins improved to a 22-5 overall record on the season.
“Even in the doubles competition, if we would have played a little bit better, then who knows,” said Brown. “I think that we’ve learned throughout the season that whenever we play against one of these top teams that we’re right there. It’s just going to take a little bit stronger effort in a couple of facets of our game for it all to come together at once.”
In singles play, LSU forced third-set tiebreakers on three courts.
Richman, the Tigers’ 52nd-ranked singles player in the nation, fell in a third-set super tiebreaker against fourth-ranked Delic on court No. 3, 6-3, 4-6, 1-0(7), while LSU’s Rutka recorded the Tigers’ lone point of the match by winning in three sets on court No. 4. After losing the first set 6-2, Rutka rallied from a set down to earn a thrilling 2-6, 7-5, 1-0(7) victory over the Illini’s 122nd-ranked Calkins. The Tigers’ junior from Krakow, Poland, owns a 17-9 overall record on the season.
On court No. 6, LSU’s Brandon Nicholson forced Illinois’ 79th-ranked Ryler Deheart to a third-set tiebreaker before the Tigers’ scrappy junior severely twisted his left ankle with the score tied at 2-2. Nicholson, a native of New Iberia, was leading 5-0 in the third set en route to his first victory over a top-100 ranked opponent.
“Man, it’s tough that (Brandon Nicholson) had to get injured the way that he did,” Brown said. “He was playing the match of his life and just to go in there and play the way that he was playing is saying a lot for him and his determination. That’s what he does for us. He comes in when we need him and he puts his hard hat on and gives us all that he has. He always fights hard.”
The 18th-ranked LSU men’s tennis team will next be in action on Saturday, April 12, as the Tigers host the Arkansas Razorbacks in their Southeastern Conference finale at noon at the W.T. “Dub” Robinson Tennis Stadium.
#1 Illinois (19-0) def. #18 LSU (11-8), 6-1
Doubles
1. #16 Wilson/Ram (ILL) def. #21 Fisher/Hazley (LSU), 8-5
2. #6 Delic/Calkins (ILL) def. White/Rutka (LSU), 8-2
3. #35 Phil Stolt/Martin (ILL) def. Nicholson/Richman (LSU), 9-7*
Order of Finish: 2, 3, 1
Singles
1. #8 Brian Wilson (ILL) def. Jason Hazley (LSU), 6-1, 6-4
2. #14 Rajeev Ram (ILL) def. Bryan Fisher (LSU), 6-1, 6-4
3. #4 Amer Delic (ILL) def. #52 Peter Richman (LSU), 6-3, 4-6, 1-0(7)**
4. Sebastian Rutka (LSU) def. #122 Michael Calkins (ILL), 2-6, 7-5, 1-0(7)
5. Chris Martin (ILL) def. Paul White (LSU), 6-3, 6-3
6. #79 Ryler Deheart (ILL) def. Brandon Nicholson (LSU), 6-4, 4-6, 6-6(ret.)
Order of Finish: 2, 5, 1, 3, 4, 6
* Clinched doubles point
** Clinched the match