BATON ROUGE — Fourth-ranked Ole Miss’ powerful singles lineup was too strong for LSU in the Tigers’ 5-2 Friday loss.
“We’re disappointed,” LSU head coach Jeff Brown said. “We think we’re the type of team who could go a long way and this is the kind of match that we should win.
“We had a couple of guys with a great effort, it’s just a matter of getting all six guys firing on the same cylinder.”
The Tigers (10-3, 2-3) won the doubles point thanks to an 8-6 clincher by Cory Ross and Sebastian Rutka over Ole Miss’ 26th-ranked Claes Lindholm and Eric Claesson on court No. 2.
Ole Miss (15-1, 6-0) did not allow LSU to keep the momentum, picking up three wins to start singles play. Tiger freshman Ken Skupski fought hard in his first singles set against the Rebel’s fourth-ranked Catalin Gard at No. 1 singles, but could not hang on in the second set, losing 7-6 (3), 6-3.
Senior Bryan Fisher earned LSU’s only singles win by ousting 82nd-ranked Paul Ciorascu at No. 3 singles.
“We’ve had different people playing well at different times and we’ve had most of the team playing well at the same time,” Brown said. “We need everybody out there playing their best tennis.”
Fridays have not been kind to the Tigers this season. LSU’s three losses have all come in Friday SEC matches.
The Tigers have a chance to rebound Sunday when 26th-ranked Mississippi State comes to the W.T. Robinson Tennis Stadium for a 1 p.m. match.
#4 Ole Miss 5, #13 LSU 2
Singles competition:
1. #4 Catalin Gard (UM) def. #28 Ken Skupski (LSU) 7-6 (7-3), 6-3
2. #29 Claes Lindholm (UM) def. Jason Hazley (LSU) 2-6, 6-2, 7-5
3. Bryan Fisher (LSU) def. #82 Paul Ciorascu (UM) 6-4, 7-6 (7-6)
4. Juan Pablo Di Cesare (UM) def. Peter Richman (LSU) 7-6 (7-0), 6-2
5. Fredrik Aarum (UM) def. Cory Ross (LSU) 6-4, 6-2
6. Eric Claesson (UM) def. Sebastian Rutka (LSU) 6-4, 6-3
Doubles competition:
1. #8 Catalin Gard/Paul Ciorascu (UM) def. #23 Jason Hazley/Bryan Fisher (LSU) 8-1
2. Cory Ross/Sebastian Rutka (LSU) def. #26 Claes Lindholm/Eric Claesson (UM) 8-6
3. #34 Peter Richman/Ken Skupski (LSU) def. Juan Pablo Di Cesare/Fredrik Aarum (UM) 8-6
Match Notes:
Ole Miss 15-1, 6-0; National ranking #4
LSU 10-3, 2-3; National ranking #13
Clinchers: Doubles (2) Match (5)
Order of Finish: Doubles (1,3,2) Singles (4,1,6,3,5,2)