BATON ROUGE — Singles wins over ranked opponents from Peter Richman and Ken Skupski pushed LSU past Tennessee, 4-3, Sunday for the 12th-ranked Tigers’ first Southeastern Conference win.
The win evened LSU’s SEC record at 1-1 and extended its overall record to 8-1. The Volunteers (6-3, 1-1) had knocked off two top-25 teams in a row before having their streak snapped by the Tigers.
LSU won two of the three doubles matches to earn the doubles point and give the Tigers an early lead. LSU has not lost the doubles point all season, but head coach Jeff Brown said Sunday’s point was especially big.
“They were biggest at No. 1 and No. 3 doubles,” Brown said. “We gave them all they wanted at No. 3 and we were able to win at No. 1. The doubles point may have been the biggest in the match.”
LSU’s 13th-ranked tandem of Bryan Fisher and Jason Hazley clinched the doubles point as they won their match on court No. 1 over Simon Rea and Damien Spizzo. The Tigers 21st-ranked pair of Cory Ross and Danny Bryan suffered their first loss of the dual season, 8-6, to Mark Dietrich and Wade Orr on court No. 3.
LSU’s Danny Bryan lost at No. 6 singles to even the score, but Ross’ win on court No. 5 over Mark Dietrich gave LSU the lead again. Soon after, LSU’s Sebastian Rutka fell, 6-3, 6-3, on court No. 4 to Kiril Tcherveniachki.
Skupski, the Tigers’ 87th-ranked freshman from Liverpool, England, beat 37th-ranked Simon Rea at No. 1 singles to give LSU a 3-2 lead. The win was Skupski’s third over a top-50 opponent this season.
“It doesn’t matter where your wins come from, but when its at the top of the lineup it is big because you have to overcome the other team’s top player,” Brown said. “I think he learned from Friday’s loss against Georgia. He had already gone through a similar situation.”
After Skupski’s win, Richman and Hazley were left on the court in their third sets. Hazley finally lost on court No. 3, 6-4, 2-6, 6-4, to Spizzo, allowing the Vols to tie the match again.
Richman would take control in the third set to clinch the match for the Tigers with a 5-7, 6-4, 6-3 win over 94th-ranked Oosthuizen.
“Peter’s been clutch for us before,” Brown said. “He’s a lefty-closer. He won some matches like that for us last year.
LSU will take a break from conference play this week when they face Texas A&M at 2 p.m. Wednesday at home.
#12 LSU 4, #39 Tennessee 3
Singles competition:
1. #87 Ken Skupski (LSU) def. #37 Simon Rea (TEN) 6-4, 2-6, 6-3
2. Peter Richman (LSU) def. #94 Ockie Oosthuizen (TEN) 5-7, 6-4, 6-3
3. Damien Spizzo (TEN) def. Jason Hazley (LSU) 6-4, 2-6, 6-4
4. Kiril Tcherveniachki (TEN) def. Sebastian Rutka (LSU) 6-3, 6-3
5. Cory Ross (LSU) def. Mark Dietrich (TEN) 6-4, 7-5
6. Wade Orr (TEN) def. Danny Bryan (LSU) 6-2, 6-4
Doubles competition:
1. #13 Bryan Fisher/Jason Hazley (LSU) def. Simon Rea/Damien Spizzo (TEN) 8-6
2. Ken Skupski/Peter Richman (LSU) def. Ben Rogers/Ockie Oosthuizen (TEN) 8-4
3. Mark Dietrich/Wade Orr (TEN) def. #21 Cory Ross/Danny Bryan (LSU) 8-6
Match Notes:
Tennessee 6-3; National ranking #39
LSU 8-1; National ranking #12
Order of finish: Doubles (2,1,3) Singles (6,5,4,1,3,2)
Clinchers: Doubles (1) Match (2)