OXFORD, Miss. — The 22nd-ranked LSU men’s tennis team took an early 3-1 lead behind Mark Growcott’s upset of the third-ranked player in the country, but the fourth-ranked Ole Miss squad proved too much in the end, winning over the Tigers 4-3.
“We did everything possible to put ourselves in a position to win the match, but we just couldn’t do what we needed to close it out,” head coach Jeff Brown said.
After LSU won the doubles point, Growcott earned the first singles win for the Tigers, doing it by upsetting the third-ranked player in the county on court one. He defeated Ole Miss’ Catalin Gard in two sets, 6-2, 6-2. It was only Gard’s fifth loss of the entire season and third in dual matches.
“That is the biggest win Mark has had in his career to this point,” Brown commented. “If we can just get him to continue to improve and get everyone on the same page as well, we’ll be ready come tournament time.”
Ken Skupski also picked up a win on court two, defeating Eric Claesson in two sets, 7-6(3), 6-0. He had been down early in the first set, but charged back to take the win over his opponent and then dominate the second. That was the last point the Tigers would earn, though.
Neither opponent on court three could win in two sets. Ole Miss’ Erling Tveit won the first set, but Peter Richman defeated him in the second. Then in a back-and-forth third set, Tveit came out victorious to give the Rebels their first point.
Ole Miss then swept through the next three singles matches with Danny Bryan defeated next in two sets.
Both Jason Hazley and Colt Gaston suffered first-set 7-6 tiebreaker losses. Neither could recover in the second set and they both lost their matches as well.
With the score tied at three, Frederik Aarum clinched the match for the Rebels by defeating Gaston, 6-4, in the third set.
“One of the reasons we got the loss today was because of the depth of Ole Miss’ lineup and the strength as you get to the bottom of it,” Brown explained.
Inclement weather forced the match to indoor courts at the Gillom Sports Center, so only three singles matches were played at a time.
The loss put LSU at 13-7 for the season and 1-6 in conference action. Ole Miss improved to 16-2 overall and 6-1 in conference.
Despite the loss, the Tigers began the afternoon with success on the doubles courts, winning two of the three to clinch the first point of the match.
First, the No. 37 duo of LSU’s Gaston and Bryan finished off the No. 55-ranked pair of Aarum and Tveit, 8-5. And then 6th-ranked Ken Skupski and Mark Growcott cemented the doubles point with a victory over the No. 57 pair of Gard and Claesson, 8-5.
“We played at a new level,” Brown said, “and if we use this correctly it can really help us down the road.”
#4 Ole Miss 4, #22 LSU 3
Singles competition:
1. #84 Mark Growcott (LSU) def. #3 Catalin Gard (UM) 6-4, 6-2
2. #12 Ken Skupski (LSU) def. Eric Claesson (UM) 7-6(3), 6-0
3. Erling Tveit (UM) def. Peter Richman (LSU) 6-1, 3-6, 6-4
4. Juan Pablo DiCesare (UM) def. Jason Hazley (LSU) 7-6(6), 6-3
5. Jacob Klaeson (UM) def. Danny Bryan (LSU) 6-4, 6-4
6. Frederik Aarum (UM) def. Colt Gaston (LSU) 7-6(3), 6-4
Doubles competition:
1. #6 Growcott/Skupski (LSU) def. Gard/Claesson (UM) 8-5
2. #37 Bryan/Gaston (LSU) def. Tveit/Aarum (UM) 8-5
3. Ten Berge/Klaeson (UM) def. Hazley/Richman (LSU) 8-6