OXFORD, Miss. — The 18th-ranked LSU men’s tennis team was defeated in the quarterfinal round of the 2003 Southeastern Conference Tournament on Friday as the Tigers were ousted by the 14th-ranked Kentucky Wildcats, 4-1, at the Palmer/Salloum Tennis Center here in Oxford, Miss.
“Kentucky hit the ball real well today,” said LSU head coach Jeff Brown. “They looked really fresh and they earned the right to have the day off yesterday. We looked as if we had been up early for the second day in a row, but I have to give them (Kentucky) a lot of credit. They were focused today and they are a really good team.”
With the loss, LSU dropped to an overall record of 13-10 on the season and fell in the quarterfinal round of the SEC Tournament for the third-consecutive year.
Since winning back-to-back titles in 1998 and 1999, the Tigers have been defeated by Georgia, 4-1, in 2000, Alabama, 4-3, in 2001 and downed by Auburn, 4-0, in last season’s SEC Tournament held in Knoxville, Tenn. LSU owns a 17-12 overall record in SEC Tournament competition.
Kentucky (18-10) gained the early momentum in Friday’s match as the Wildcats were able to secure the doubles point with wins on two of the three doubles courts.
On court No. 2, Kentucky’s combination of Jesse Witten and Rahim Esmail cruised to an 8-2 victory over the Tigers’ Cory Ross and Sebastian Rutka, 8-2, while the Wildcats’ duo comprised of Evan Austin and Alex Hume clinched the point on court No. 3 against LSU’s Peter Richman and Paul White, 8-4. With the defeat, Ross and Rutka fell to an overall record of 18-6 on the season.
In singles play, LSU’s Rutka quickly evened the overall score of the match at 1-1, as the Tiger junior defeated Kentucky’s Matt Emery in straight sets. With the 6-4, 6-2 victory, LSU’s native of Krakow, Poland, upped his overall record on the season to 21-9 and extended his winning streak to five-consecutive matches.
Despite Rutka’s win, LSU’s rally proved to be short lived on Friday as Kentucky reeled off three straight-set victories to clinch the match. The Wildcats’ won on singles courts Nos. 1, 2, and 5, while the Nos. 3 and 6 matches were suspended during third-set play.
With the win, Kentucky avenged a regular-season loss to LSU as the Tigers defeated 12th-ranked Kentucky, 4-2, in Baton Rouge on March 30. In the earlier contest, LSU won the doubles point along with three of five singles matches that were completed.
“We came into this tournament very focused on getting through Arkansas, because we needed another win for the NCAA committee to look at,” Brown said. “Beating Kentucky would have been a bonus for us, because it would have given us a chance to be a one-seed (in the NCAA Tournament), but we knew that they were also playing for the same reasons.”
The 18th-ranked LSU men’s tennis team will find out its fate in the NCAA Tournament on April 30, as the NCAA Selection Committee will announce the field of 64 and the 16 host sites at 3:30 p.m. The show will be televised live on ESPN News.
#14 Kentucky (18-10) def. #18 LSU (13-10), 4-1
Doubles
1. #21 Fisher/Hazley (LSU) vs. #55 Emery/Benmansour (UK), susp.
2. Esmail/Witten (UK) def. Ross/Rutka (LSU), 8-2
3. Austin/Hume (UK) def. Richman/White (LSU), 8-4*
Order of Finish: 2, 3
Singles
1. #16 Jesse Witten (UK) def. #52 Peter Richman (LSU), 6-3, 6-3
2. Evan Austin (UK) def. Bryan Fisher (LSU), 6-4, 6-3**
3. Jason Hazley (LSU) vs. #100 Karim Benmansour (UK), susp.
4. Sebastian Rutka (LSU) def. Matt Emery (UK), 6-4, 6-2
5. Rahim Esmail (UK) def. #117 Cory Ross (LSU), 7-5, 6-3
6. Paul White (LSU) vs. Alex Hume (UK), susp.
Order of Finish: 4, 1, 5, 2
* Clinched doubles
** Clinched the 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 def. #5 LSU, 4-1
Match 6: #1 Florida def. #9 Alabama, 4-0
Match 7: #3 Ole Miss def. #6 Auburn, 4-1
Match 8: #2 Vanderbilt vs. #10 Georgia, 5 p.m.
Semifinal Round
Match 9: #1 Florida vs. #4 Kentucky, 10 a.m.
Match 10: #3 Ole Miss vs. Match 8 winner, 2 p.m.
Final
Match 11: Match 9 winnner vs. Match 10 winner, 2 p.m.