BATON ROUGE — LSU suffered its first loss of the season, 4-3 after a string of crucial matches went Georgia’s way in front of a large crowd at W.T. Robinson Stadium.
The No. 12 Tigers (7-1, 0-1) had an early 2-0 lead thanks to the doubles point and Cory Ross’ quick win on singles court six, but No. 21 Georgia (7-1, 1-0) took the next four singles matches.
“We had chances to capitalize on all six courts, whether we won the first set or we were up at the break,” said LSU head coach Jeff Brown. “We did a poor job of cashing in on our opportunities.”
As Georgia pulled ahead 3-2, matches on courts one and five both went into third sets. On court No. 1 LSU’s 87th-ranked freshman Ken Skupski beat Georgia’s fourth-ranked Bo Hodge, 7-6, in the first set but lost the second, 2-6.
LSU senior Sebastian Rutka lost his first set on court No. 5 to Matic Omerzel but recovered in the second set.
Skupski fell behind early in his third set. He tied the score at 4-4 before Hodge could pull away to clinch the match for the Bulldogs.
“You don’t want to have to count on beating the No. 4 player in the nation to win the match,” Brown said. “[Skupski] did a good job to put himself in that position. It’s a tough situation and I’m sure he will learn a lot from the match.”
Rutka came away with the 4-6, 6-2, 7-6 (6) win, but it was too late to help the Tigers maintain their previously undefeated record.
“You have to give credit to Georgia,” Brown said. “To lose the doubles point on the road and then come back is tough.”
LSU won, 8-4, at Nos. 2 and 3 doubles. Georgia’s fifth-ranked Hodge and John Isner avenged and earlier loss to LSU’s 13th-ranked Bryan Fisher and Jason Hazley. Hodge and Isner won, 9-8(4) at No. 1 doubles.
Hazley and Fisher both lost their singles matches in two long sets. Hazley lost, 7-6(5), 6-2 to Isner on court No. 3 and Fisher lost, 6-3, 7-6 (5) on No. 4 to Strahinja Bobusic. Peter Richman lost, 7-5, 6-1 to 44th-ranked Matias Ormaza on court No. 2.
“Sometimes the hurt of a loss drives the point home and you learn lessons,” Brown said. “We need to use those to get ready for Tennessee.
“We were grateful for the fantastic crowd today,” Brown said of the large turnout for the team’s first “Greek Day” event.
The Tigers host a Tennessee team that has pulled off some big wins recently Sunday at 1 p.m. The Volunteers have knocked off two top-25 teams in their last two matches.
#21 Georgia 4, #12 LSU 3 Mar 05, 2004 at Baton Rouge, La. Singles competition: 1. #4 Bo Hodge (UGA) def. #87 Ken Skupski (LSU) 6-7 (9-11), 6-2, 6-4 2. #44 Matias Omaza (UGA) def. Peter Richman (LSU) 7-5, 6-1 3. John Isner (UGA) def. Jason Hazley (LSU) 7-6 (7-5), 6-2 4. Strahinja Bobusic (UGA) def. Bryan Fisher (LSU) 6-3, 7-6 (7-5) 5. Sebastian Rutka (LSU) def. Matic Omerzel (UGA) 4-6, 6-2, 7-6 (7-6) 6. Cory Ross (LSU) def. Ricardo Gonzales (UGA) 6-0, 6-4 Doubles competition: 1. #5 Bo Hodge/John Isner (UGA) def. #13 Bryan Fisher/Jason Hazley (LSU) 9-8 (7-4) 2. Ken Skupski/Peter Richman (LSU) def. Matias Omaza/Matic Omerzel (UGA) 8-4 3. #21 Cory Ross/Danny Bryan (LSU) def. Stephan Timu/Ricardo Gonzales (UGA) 8-4 Match Notes: Georgia 7-1; National ranking #21 LSU 7-1; National ranking #12 Order of finish: Doubles (3,2,1); Singles (5,3,2,4,6,1) Clinchers: Doubles (2) Match (1)