COLUMBIA, S.C. — South Carolina edged the ninth-ranked LSU men’s tennis team, 4-3 on Sunday to end an unsuccessful Southeastern Conference opening weekend for the Tigers (10-3, 0-2 SEC).
The 55th-ranked Gamecocks (10-3, 2-0 SEC) handed LSU its first loss this season by a team ranked outside the top-10.
“I knew coming in they were as good as anyone we were going to play on a given day,” said LSU head coach Jeff Brown “You don’t have to be a great team, you just have to have four people who can win their match and that’s what they did.”
LSU again earned the doubles point for the fifth consecutive match.
The Tigers held a 3-1 lead in the match before the Gamecocks turned the momentum their way. LSU’s Danny Bryan lost in straight sets on court five, but Mark Growcott and No. 96-ranked Jason Hazley made quick work of their singles opponents on courts two and three.
“We did a good job of getting three quick wins, but you need four,” Brown said. “We knew getting the fourth would be though and we didn’t slam door when had chance.”
LSU’s fifth-ranked Ken Skupski lost in two long sets on court one to 68th-ranked Tom Eklund, 7-5, 7-6 (4). Peter Richman and Kevin Dessauer both won their first sets on courts four and six, but South Carolina swung back to win both matches. Richman lost the clincher to Jaime Cuellar, 5-7, 7-5, 6-3.
“Any SEC team is tough to close out and nobody came up clutch for us today,” Brown said.
Next weekend could prove just as difficult as LSU takes on No. 8 Georgia and No. 18 Tennessee, both on the road again.
Doubles:
1. #4 Skupski/Growcott (LSU) def. Rodrigues/Knorr (SC) 8-3
2. Eklund/Cuellar (SC) v #37 Hazley/Bryan (LSU) 5-5 (susp.)
3. Richman/White (LSU) def. Atkinson/Babenko (SC) 8-3
Order of Completion: 1, 3
Singles:
1. #68 Tom Eklund (SC) def. #5 Ken Skupski (LSU) 7-5, 7-6(4)
2. Mark Growcott (LSU) def. Pedro Rodrigues (SC) 6-4, 7-5
3. #95 Jason Hazley (LSU) def. Geraldo Knorr (SC) 6-0, 6-2
4. Jaime Cuellar (SC) def. Peter Richman (LSU) 5-7, 7-5, 6-3
5. Dmitry Babenko (SC) def. Danny Bryan (LSU) 6-3, 6-4
6. Ben Atkinson (SC) def. Kevin Dessauer (LSU) 1-6, 6-1, 6-3
Order of Completion: 3, 5, 2, 6, 1, 4*
* Clinched Match