STARKVILLE, Miss. — The LSU men’s tennis team ended its Mississippi road trip with a much-needed upset victory over 14th-ranked Mississippi State on Sunday, 4-3.
The Tigers rebounded from a heart-breaking 3-4 loss to Ole Miss on Friday, earning their second conference win.
“I really have to give credit to my players for how they came back from such a tough emotional and physical loss at Ole Miss,” head coach Jeff Brown said. “It’s easy to get down on yourself with all the close losses we’ve been having recently. Instead they came out with more determination and got a big win over the 14th team in the country on the road. That says a lot about the character of our team.”
The Tigers continued their excellent doubles performance by sweeping that portion of the match to take the early 1-0 lead.
First sixth-ranked Mark Growcott and Ken Skupski defeated No. 22 Luiz Carvalho and Jose-Carlos Pinto, 8-4. Next Jason Hazley and Peter Richman earned the 8-5 win on court three to clinch the point for the Tigers, marking the sixth straight match LSU has won doubles.
Danny Bryan and Colt Gaston completed the sweep with an 8-6 win on court two.
“It’s so difficult just to win three singles matches in the SEC let alone four, so winning the doubles point is a huge advantage to whoever wins it in the match,” Brown said. “That has been so important to our game this season.”
Gaston finished first in singles, rebounding well individually from his tough loss Friday to win easily on court six in two sets over Florent Girod, 6-2, 6-2. It was Girod’s first dual-match singles loss after 13 consecutive wins.
Skupski then earned his second win of the weekend in the No. 2 slot over Philippe Frayssinoux, 6-4, 6-2.
To guarantee a Tigers victory, Richman defeated Luiz Carvalho in two sets as well on court three, 6-3, 6-1.
The Tigers lost the remaining three matches, but the three previous singles victories were enough to clinch the victory.
Growcott fell just short of his second straight win in the No. 1 singles position and sixth in a row, losing to Ivan Bjelica in three sets, 6-2, 4-6, 6-7(1).
The win improved LSU’s overall record to 14-7 and brought them to 2-6 in the Southeastern Conference. The loss was just the fifth for Mississippi State (11-5), as it dropped them to 6-2 in conference play.
The Tigers return home for a four-match homestand beginning next weekend with Auburn and Alabama.
“It will be refreshing for our to get to come home, sleep in their own beds and play in front of a home crowd,” Brown said. “Our community needs to understand that this is a good team and that we need support at home and hopefully they will come out and support a top-20 team.”
Match Results
Doubles
1. #6 Mark Growcott/Ken Skupski (LSU) def. #22 Luiz Carvalho/Jose-Carlos Pinto (MSU) 8-4
2. #37 Danny Bryan/Colt Gaston (LSU) def. Philippe Frayssinoux/Florent Girod (MSU) 8-6
3. Jason Hazley/Peter Richman (LSU) def. Ivan Bjelica/Pierre Mouillon (MSU) 8-5
Singles
1. Ivan Bjelica (MSU) def. #84 Mark Growcott (LSU) 2-6, 6-4, 7-6(1)
2. #12 Ken Skupski (LSU) def. Philippe Frayssinoux (MSU) 6-4, 6-2
3. Peter Richman (LSU) def. Luiz Carvalho (MSU) 6-3, 6-1
4. Pierre Mouillon (MSU) def. #83 Jason Hazley (LSU) 7-6(3), 1-6, 10-8
5. Jose-Carlos Pinto (MSU) def. Danny Bryan (LSU) 7-6(4) def.
6. Colt Gaston (LSU) def. Florent Girod (MSU) 6-2, 6-2
Order of finish
Doubles: 1,3,2
Singles: 6,2,3,5,4,1