SEATTLE — The No. 15-ranked LSU men’s tennis team responded to their opening round loss at the ITA National Team Indoor Championships, delivering a hard fought 4-1 victory Saturday against Colorado.
“This match was a lot like the one we played yesterday and that’s a testament to the depth of men’s college tennis,” said LSU head coach Jeff Brown. “We played a top-10 team yesterday and a team in the 40s today and it really seemed like they were just as tough.”
LSU (6-2) re-established its dominance on the doubles court and winning the doubles point, which it had failed to do in its previous two matches.
The Tigers received a near flawless performance on the No. 2 doubles court where 24th-ranked Danny Bryan and Colt Gaston defeated Marek Dvorak and Jan Zelezny, 8-1. LSU’s 10th-ranked doubles pair of Mark Growcott and Ken Skupski sealed the doubles point with an 8-6 win on court one.
Growcott pulled out of a recent slump to put LSU up 2-0 with his 6-3, 6-3 straight set win over Peter Bjork on the No. 2 singles court.
After dropping the first set 6-2, LSU’s No. 3 singles player Gaston rallied hard to take the next two sets 6-3, 6-1 and give the Tigers a commanding 3-0 lead.
“Colt did a great job today,” said Brown. “He was down after the first set, but he fought off some break points in the second, won the match and really put us in control.”
After having his 15 match winning streak snapped Friday, junior Skupski held off a pesky competitor in Colorado No. 1 singles player Eric Molnar 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 to clinch the win.
With the match won play was suspended on courts four and five, with LSU players Bryan and James Cluskey leading on each respectively.
Sunday, LSU will play Arkansas, which upset No. 11 Virginia late Saturday (4-2), at 4:30 p.m. CST at the Seattle Tennis Club.
ITA National Team Indoor Championship
Seattle Tennis Club
February 18, 2006
# 10 LSU 4, # 54 Colorado 1
1. (66) Ken Skupski def. (60) def. Eric Molnar (COL) 6-4, 3-6, 6-4
2. Mark Growcott (LSU) def. Peter Bjork (COL) 6-3, 6-3
3. Colt Gaston (LSU) Marko Bundalo (COL) 2-6, 6-3, 6-1
4. Danny Bryan (LSU) vs. Jan Zelezny (COL) 6-4, 4-6, 4-3 unfinished
5. James Cluskey (LSU) vs. Chad Tsuda (COL) 6-3, 4-6, 4-1 unfinished
6. Marek Dvorak (COL) def. Martel Campbell (LSU) 7-6 (3), 6-4
1. (10) Growcott/Skupski def. Molnar/Bundalo (COL) 8-6
2. (24) Bryan/Gaston def. Zelezny/Dvorak (COL) 8-1
3. Clusky/White vs. Tsuda/Bjork (COL) 5-5 unfinished