OXFORD, Miss. — In its first-round match of the 2003 Southeastern Conference Tournament, the 18th-ranked and fifth-seeded LSU men’s tennis team swept No. 12 seed Arkansas, 4-0, on Thursday morning at Ole Miss’ Palmer/Salloum Tennis Center.
The match scheduled for 8 a.m. was delayed for one hour due to overnight rain.
LSU’s No. 2 doubles tandem of Cory Ross and Sebastian Rutka gave the Tigers their first doubles win by breezing past Arkansas’ team of Adrians Zguns and Matt Roberts, 8-3. Ross-Rutka took a 4-0 lead and never looked back.
However, matches at Nos. 1 and 3 were as tight as they come. With court No. 3 tied at 7-7, LSU’s No. 1 team of Bryan Fisher and Jason Hazley were forced into a tiebreaker with Arkansas’ Aleksey Bubis and Eduardo Pacheco to clinch the doubles point, 9-8 (1).
At court Nos. 4 and 5, Rutka and Ross each won their singles matches in straight sets to put the Tigers ahead 3-0.
With Hazley about to close out his match at No. 3, Peter Richman tied in the third set at No. 1 and Fisher trailing by a set at No. 2, Paul White clinched the match with a 6-2, 2-6, 6-2, win at No. 6 singles.
LSU won its 17th SEC Tournament match and improved to 17-11 since the conference went to team championship play in 1990. The Tigers have won two of the 13 tournaments, 1997 and 1998, and have been the runner-up twice, 1992 and 1995. However, LSU has been eliminated in the quarterfinal round for the past three seasons.
LSU will face No. 4-seeded Kentucky in the quarterfinal at 8 a.m. on Friday.
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2003 SEC Tournament
First Round, 8 a.m.
April 17, 2003
Oxford, Miss.
#5 LSU (13-9) def. #12 Arkansas (9-14), 4-0
Match delayed one hour due to overnight rain
Doubles
1. #21 Fisher/Hazley (LSU) vs. Bubis/Pacheco (ARK), 9-8 (1) *
2. Ross/Rutka (LSU) def. Zguns/Roberts (ARK), 8-3
3. Richman/White (LSU) tied with Parker/Gajjar (ARK), susp. at 7-7
Doubles order of finish: 2,1
Singles
1. #52 Peter Richman (LSU) tied with Aleksey Bubis (ARK), 6-1, 3-6, 5-5, susp.
2. Bryan Fisher (LSU) trailed Adrians Zguns (ARK), 6-7 (6), 3-2, susp.
3. Jason Hazley (LSU) led Eduardo Pacheco (ARK), 7-6 (7), 4-1, susp.
4. Sebastian Rutka (LSU) def. Matt Roberts (ARK), 6-2, 6-2
5. #117 Cory Ross (LSU) def. Rohan Gajjar (ARK), 6-4, 6-2
6. Paul White (LSU) def. Talley Parker (ARK), 6-2, 2-6, 6-2 **
Singles order of finish: 4,5,6
* Clinched Doubles Point
** Clinched Match
2003 SEC Tournament Schedule
First Round
Match 1: #5 LSU def. #12 Arkansas, 4-0
Match 2: #9 Alabama def. #8 Mississippi State, 4-1
Match 3: #6 Auburn def. #11 Tennessee, 4-3
Match 4: #10 Georgia def. #7 South Carolina, 4-1
Quarterfinal Round
Match 5: #4 Kentucky vs. #5 LSU, 8 a.m.
Match 6: #1 Florida vs. #9 Alabama, 11 a.m.
Match 7: #3 Ole Miss vs. #6 Auburn, 2 p.m.
Match 8: #2 Vanderbilt vs. #10 Georgia, 5 p.m.
Semifinal Round
Match 9: Match 5 winner vs. Match 6 winner, 10 a.m.
Match 10: Match 7 winner vs. Match 8 winner, 2 p.m.
Final
Match 11: Match 9 winnner vs. Match 10 winner, 2 p.m.