ATHENS, Ga. — Close matches on nearly every singles and doubles court couldn’t send the LSU men’s tennis team past sixth-ranked Georgia on Friday in a 5-2 loss.
“Georgia was tough today. They won all the big points,” said LSU coach Jeff Brown. “We didn’t close out our opportunities.”
LSU (10-4, 0-3 SEC) was trying to rebound from its unsuccessful opening weekend of Southeastern Conference play, but their third top-10 opponent on the road in as many weeks used its powerful lineup to overcome the Tigers.
The Tigers lost the doubles point for the first time in nearly a month in three matches decided by two games or less. Georgia’s third-ranked John Isner and Antonio Ruiz ended sixth-ranked Mark Growcott and Ken Skupski’s four-match win streak with a 9-8 victory on court one.
Paul White and Peter Richman kept LSU in the point with a 9-8 win on court three over Ricardo Gonzales and Matic Omerzel. But Georgia’s No. 51-ranked Strahinja Bobusic and Colin Purcell would clinch the point on court two with an 8-6 win over No. 49 Jason Hazley and Danny Bryan.
The match remained extremely tight through the first set in singles. LSU came out on the losing end of four first sets that went to seven games.
Georgia extended its lead to 3-0 with wins by Purcell over Bryan on court five and Ruiz over Skupski on court two.
No. 16-ranked Isner clinched the team win for Georgia, snapping Mark Growcott’s ten-match winning streak on court one.
“It was an extremely close match,” Brown said. “There’s so many tiebreakers, but we’ve got to start winning those. We didn’t win half of them.”
The other three matches went to third sets. Richman put LSU on the board with a win on court three over Strahinja Bobusic. Hazley won his match on court four over No. 53 Matic Omerzel.
LSU’s Colt Gaston lost in a long tiebreaker on court six to Ricardo Gonzales.
LSU will try to rebound Sunday at Tennessee at noon.
#6 University of Georgia 5, #17 Louisiana State 2
Singles competition:
1. #16 John Isner (UGA) def. Mark Growcott (LSU) 7-6, 6-3
2. Antonio Ruiz (UGA) def. #10 Ken Skupski (LSU) 7-5, 6-1
3. Peter Richman (LSU) def. Strahinja Bobusic (UGA) 5-7, 6-4, 1-0 (10-5)
4. #99 Jason Hazley (LSU) def. #53 Matic Omerzel (UGA) 6-7, 6-4, 1-0
5. Colin Purcell (UGA) def. Danny Bryan (LSU) 6-2, 6-4
6. Ricardo Gonzalez (UGA) def. Colt Gaston (LSU) 3-6, 7-5, 1-0 (10-8)
Doubles competition:
1. #3 John Isner/Antonio Ruiz (UGA) def. #6 Mark Growcott/Ken Skupski (LSU) 9-8 (5-0)
2. #51 Strahinja Bobusic/Colin Purcell (UGA) def. #49 Danny Bryan/Jason Hazley (LSU) 8-6
3. Peter Richman/Paul White (LSU) def. Ricardo Gonzalez/Matic Omerzel (UGA) 9-8 (1-0)
Match Notes:
Louisiana State 10-4, 0-3; National ranking #17
University of Georgia 10-2, 3-0; National ranking #6
Order of finish: Doubles (1,3,2); Singles (5,2,1,3,6,4)
Official: Walt Williams T-3:30 A-208