BATON ROUGE — The 10th ranked LSU men’s tennis team made up for a late start Sunday, wasting little time in finishing off the Southern Miss Golden Eagles and the Centenary Gents, in convincing 7-0 wins.
The Tigers, who have never lost to either program, pushed their record to 21-0 against Southern Miss and 18-0 against Centenary. None of LSU’s singles players was pushed to a third set in either match.
“I was impressed to see the focus we showed today,” said LSU head coach Jeff Brown. “We didn’t get distracted by the late start and we went out and played at a high level.”
LSU’s No. 66 ranked, Ken Skupski was the only Tiger to play singles in both matches. Skupski picked up two straight set victories to push his winning streak to 11 matches.
Skupski teamed up with usual doubles partner Mark Growcott against Marc Lux and Juan Garzon of Southern Miss. The Tiger duo defended their No. 10 ranking, downing their opponents 8-3.
The 24th-ranked double team of Danny Bryan and Colt Gaston also started off their dual match season on a good note. The pair defeated Southern Miss’s tandem of Domagoj Anic and Dylan Mezey 8-5.
The Tigers’ No. 3 doubles team of senior Paul White and freshman James Cluskey picked up victories in both matches, besting Andrew Poole and Reid Bourgeois of Southern Miss and Centenary’s Russ Patrick and Josh Pinto, both 8-2
The pair of matches Sunday gave coach Brown the chance to work of a lot of players against Centenary.
Second year man Jonathan Tragardh took full advantage of his opportunity beating Centenary’s Seva Kotelanetz, 6-0, 6-0. Freshman, Jose Moncada also looked impressive in the first dual match of his career winning, 6-0, 6-1, over Russ Patrick.
“I was happy to see some all of the guys get out there and perform well today,” said Brown. “We have to continue to learn and improve to prepare ourselves for the matches down the road.”
#10 LSU 7, Southern Miss 0
Singles competition
1. #66 Ken Skupski (LSU) def. Marc Lux (USM) 6-4, 6-2
2. Mark Growcott (LSU) def. Juan Garzon (USM) 6-3, 7-5
3. Colt Gaston (LSU) def. Domagoj Anic (USM) 6-1, 6-3
4. Danny Bryan (LSU) def. Reid Bourgeois (USM) 6-1, 6-1
5. Paul White (LSU) def. Dylan Mezey (USM) 6-2, 6-3
6. James Cluskey (LSU) def. Andrew Poole (USM) 6-2, 6-2
Doubles competition
1. #10 Mark Growcott/Ken Skupski (LSU) def. Marc Lux/Juan Garzon (USM) 8-3
2. #24 Danny Bryan/Colt Gaston (LSU) def. Domagoj Anic/Dylan Mezey (USM) 8-5
3. Paul White/James Cluskey (LSU) def. Andrew Poole/Reid Bourgeois (USM) 8-2
Match Notes:
Southern Miss 0-1
LSU 1-0; National ranking #10
Order of finish: Doubles (1,3,2); Singles (3,6,1,4,5,2)
#10 LSU 7, Centenary 0
Singles competition
1. #10 Ken Skupski (LSU) def. Josh Pinto (CENT) 6-4, 6-2
2. Kevin Dessauer (LSU) def. Dylan Dyer (CENT) 6-1, 6-1
3. Jose Moncada (LSU) def. Russ Patrick (CENT) 6-0, 6-1
4. Eric DeRoche (LSU) def. Arthur Okura (CENT) 6-4, 6-4
5. William LeFevre (LSU) def. Matthew Shoptaugh (CENT) 6-2, 6-2
6. Jonathan Tragardh (LSU) def. Seva Kotelanetz (CENT) 6-0, 6-0
Doubles competition
1. Paul White/James Cluskey (LSU) def. Russ Patrick/Josh Pinto (CENT) 8-2
2. Eric DeRoche/Jose Moncada (LSU) def. Dylan Dyer/Arthur Okura (CENT) 8-1
3. Kevin Dessauer/Jonathan Tragardh (LSU) def. Seva Kotelanetz/Matthew Shoptaugh (CENT) 8-2
Match Notes:
Centenary 0-1
LSU 2-0; National ranking #10
Order of finish: Doubles (3,1,2); Singles (6,3,1,2,5,4)