BATON ROUGE — Down 1-0 after doubles play, the No. 24-ranked LSU men’s tennis team responded to a challenge from head coach Jeff Brown, storming back in singles competition to move past 28th-ranked SEC rival Tennessee, 4-3, Friday at W. T. Robinson Tennis Stadium.
“I laid down a challenge after we lost the doubles point,” said Brown. “The team responded, guys played up to their ability and we got the win.”
Competing once again without sophomore Colt Gaston, the Tigers were forced to play without their normal doubles lineup. The Vols took advantage, winning matches on courts one and two and taking to gain the advantage.
It was only the third time this season that LSU failed to win the early point. Neither previous time were the Tigers able to come back and win the match on the strength of their singles play. However, with his team on a two-match losing streak Brown threw down the gauntlet for his players to step up and compete.
LSU answered the call, coming back to take four out of the six singles matches and earning a victory in its first conference match of the season.
The rally started at the top of the Tiger lineup, where Ken Skupski and Mark Growcott made up for their doubles loss and showed themselves to be two of the squad’s most dependable performers.
Skupski, the nation’s 20th-ranked singles player overpowered Tennessee’s Bobby Cameron in route to a, 6-2, 6-2, win on the No. 1 court. Growcott quickly followed with a win on court two. The Tiger senior put his opposition away in straight sets, besting David Baxendine, 6-3, 6-4 and giving LSU a 2-1 lead.
With a win by Tennessee junior Ben Rodgers over LSU freshman Jose Moncada on the No. 6 singles court, the Vols evened the score at two all.
The Tigers’ team captain Danny Bryan struck next, beating Kaden Hensel, in three sets, 6-1, 1-6, 6-0, to win his fourth consecutive singles match and put LSU back on top.
It would be Kevin Dessauer who would deliver the final blow and clinch the win for the Tigers on court five. The LSU sophomore, competing in only the second SEC match of his career, played inspired tennis and earned his first conference victory.
After outlasting Adam Hubble through a marathon first set, that included a 9-7 tiebreaker, Dessauer found himself up, 4-1, in the second set and in position to close out the match. However, Hubble refused to go away, evening the score at. 4-4. With his opponent threatening to break him in the ninth game, Dessauer rallied, ripping two aces past Hubble and putting himself up, 5-4, before sealing the match for LSU.
“It was a total team effort and a team victory,” said Brown. “Kevin Dessauer came up really big for us today and that’s because he just knows how to be a competitor. He played hard and is making a case to be in the lineup.”
The win moves LSU to 8-4 on the season and 1-0 in SEC play. The Volunteers dropped to 5-2 and 0-1 in the SEC. The Tigers will now have to refocus quickly, as they will welcome top-ranked and undefeated Georgia to Baton Rouge on Sunday at 1 p.m.
#24 LSU vs. #28 Tennessee
LSU 4, UT 3
Singles
1. Ken Skupski (LSU) def. Bobby Cameron (UT) 6-2, 6-2
2. Mark Growcott (LSU) def. David Baxendine (UT) 6-3, 6-4
3. Danny Bryan (LSU) def. Kaden Hensel (UT) 6-1, 1-6, 6-0
4. Kiril Tcherveniachki def. James Cluskey (LSU) 7-6 (7), 7-6 (4)
5. Kevin Dessauer (LSU) def. Hubble (UT) 7-6 (7), 6-4
6. Ben Rodgers (UT) def. Jose Moncada (LSU) 6-4, 6-0
Doubles
1. Rogers/Hubble def. Skupski/Growcott (LSU) 8-6
2. Cameron/Hensel def. White/Cluskey (LSU) 8-6
3. Bryan/Dessauer (LSU) vs. Baxendine/Stephens (UT) 7-7 unfinished