CHICAGO — The LSU men’s tennis team rebounded Friday at the National Team Indoor Championships to beat Boise State, 4-2, in consolation play.
The No. 11 Tigers (8-1) move on to play the winner of No. 13 Kentucky and No. 15 Ohio State tomorrow in their final match of the tournament.
“That was a rough and rugged team we just beat,” said LSU head coach Jeff Brown. “By the end of it all they are going to be a very good win.”
It was the second close match in two days for both teams. The No. 44-ranked Broncos almost upset first-seed an first-ranked Baylor yesterday. LSU dropped its first match of the season to eighth-ranked and eighth-seeded Duke.
The Tigers used wins on courts two and three to earn a very close doubles point. All three matches were decided by two games or less. Jason Hazley and Danny Bryan clinched that point with a 9-8 win on court two.
“The doubles point was close as you get,” Brown said.
It took three hard-fought singles matches to earn the team victory. Junior Mark Growcott used his second consecutive win over a ranked player to clinch the match for LSU on court two. Growcott lost his first set to No. 90-ranked Thomas Shoeck but recovered to get the win.
“We showed a lot of character today,” Brown said. “Mark came back to win in the third set and Hazley was ready to serve for his match if he hadn’t. We grew as a team today and I’m proud of the guys.”
Tomorrow’s match begins at 6 p.m.
#11 LSU 4, #44 Boise State 3
Singles competition:
1. #12 Ken Skupski (LSU) def. #41 Luke Shields (BSU) 6-4, 6-4
2. Mark Growcott (LSU) def. #90 Thomas Schoeck (BSU) 1-6, 7-5, 6-4
3. #55 Matias Silva (BSU) def. #87 Jason Hazley (LSU) 6-3, 6-7, 3-2
4. Ikaika Jobe (BSU) def. Peter Richman (LSU) 6-2, 6-1
5. Danny Bryan (LSU) def. Brent Werbeck (BSU) 6-1, 6-3
6. Eric Roberson (BSU) def. William LeFevre (LSU) 6-0, 6-2
Doubles competition:
1. #12 Luke Shields/Thomas Schoeck (BSU) def. #13 Mark Growcott/Ken Skupski (LSU) 8-6
2. #34 Danny Bryan/Jason Hazley (LSU) def. Ikaika Jobe/Matias Silva (BSU) 9-8
3. Peter Richman/Paul White (LSU) def. Brent Werbeck/Eric Roberson (BSU) 9-7
Match Notes:
LSU 8-1; National ranking #11