BATON ROUGE — The No. 20 Tiger tennis team (12-5, 0-4 SEC) overcame a tough Michigan team to win 5-2 Sunday, bringing their record to 9-0 at home in the W.T. Robinson Stadium.
It was their second victory in four days. They beat South Florida, 6-1, on Thursday.
“Those were two matches we really needed after a tough stretch,” said LSU head coach Jeff Brown. “The guys were not going to let it go any other way than winning.”
Danny Bryan picked up a quick win on court five, where he beat Steve Peretz, 6-1, 6-1. Mark Growcott followed on court two, beating Michael Rubin, 6-3, 6-3. Growcott’s win moved him to 11-0 this season at the No. 2 singles position.
The remaining four courts went to third sets. Michigan got on the scoreboard with a 7-5, 2-6, 6-3 win by Matko Maravic over Ken Skupski on court one.
Peter Richman fought back from a slow second set to extend LSU’s lead to 3-1 with a 6-4, 2-6, 6-2 win over Ryan Heller on court four. Michigan answered with a win on court three by Brian Hung over Jason Hazley.
Paul White clinched the match on court six after a slow start. He lost the first set but went on to beat David Anving.
Doubles matches were delayed till the end of the match because of rain in the area. LSU had already won the match when they began the doubles point.
Maravic got his second upset of the day when he and Hung beat sixth-ranked Skupski and Growcott, 8-5 on court one. Richman and White evened things out with an 8-3 win on court three.
Colt Gaston and Bryan clinched the point for the Tigers on court two.
“The focus was good considering time delays and other things that can be distractions,” Brown said.
With the win, LSU is 11-1 against non-conference opponents.
LSU plays at home again next weekend. They face Southeastern Conference opponents Kentucky and Vanderbilt on Friday and Sunday.
“It’s good to have our confidence back going back into an SEC weekend,” Brown said.
#20 LSU 5, #48 Michigan 2
Singles competition:
1. Matko Maravic (MICH) def. #10 Ken Skupski (LSU) 7-5, 2-6, 6-3
2. Mark Growcott (LSU) def. Michael Rubin (MICH) 6-3, 6-3
3. Brian Hung (MICH) def. #99 Jason Hazley (LSU) 6-2, 3-6, 6-3
4. Peter Richman (LSU) def. Ryan Heller (MICH) 6-4, 2-6, 6-2
5. Danny Bryan (LSU) def. Steve Peretz (MICH) 6-1, 6-1
6. Paul White (LSU) def. David Anving (MICH) 4-6, 6-4, 6-3
Doubles competition:
1. Matko Maravic/Brian Hung (MICH) def. #6 Ken Skupski/Mark Growcott (LSU) 8-5
2. Colt Gaston/Danny Bryan (LSU) def. Ryan Heller/Josef Fischer (MICH) 8-4
3. Paul White/Peter Richman (LSU) def. David Anving/Vinny Gossain (MICH) 8-3
Match Notes:
Michigan 9-4; National ranking #48
LSU 11-5, 0-4 SEC; National ranking #20
Order of finish: Doubles (1,3,2); Singles (5,2,1,4,3,6)
Clincher: Singles (4) Doubles (2)
Match start was delayed due to rain in the area.