LEXINGTON, Ky. — The LSU men’s tennis team dropped a tough match to 29th-ranked Kentucky, 4-3, Friday at the Hillary J. Boone Tennis Center in Lexington.
“It’s a tough SEC road loss,” said LSU head coach Jeff Brown. “We just weren’t able to make the shots we needed to put us over the top.”
LSU (8-6, 1-2 SEC) has now dropped two consecutive SEC matches, while Kentucky (10-2, 3-0 SEC) remained undefeated in conference play.
The Tigers swept Kentucky on the doubles courts and snatched the doubles point.
LSU’s 18th-ranked duo of Ken Skupski and Mark Growcott dropped the Cats’ Nate Hemge and Alex Hume on court one, 8-4.
On the No. 2 doubles court No.39-ranked Colt Gaston and Danny Bryan blew past Marcus Sundh and Greg Johnstone, 8-1, and on court three freshman James Cluskey and senior Paul White rolled over Bruno Agostinelli and Kenny Hodge, 8-2.
Unfortunately, LSU was unable to follow up on its early success and close out the match in singles play.
Kevin Dessauer dropped his match on the No. 6 court, 6-0, 6-2, evening the team score at one a piece.
The Tigers responded quickly, winning two straight matches and putting themselves in position to finish off the Wildcats.
No. 38-ranked Skupski knocked off Kentucky’s No. 1 singles player, 32nd-ranked Bruno Agostinelli, beating the Cats’ phenomenal freshman in straight sets, 6-2, 6-4.
Cluskey also won in singles, snapping his singles losing streak with an impressive, 6-4, 6-3, win over Greg Johnstone on court five.
From there on the matches began to fall Kentucky’s way and the Wildcats found wins on all of the remaining courts to complete the comeback.
The clincher came on court No. 2, where the 41st-ranked Hume battled off Gaston to take the take their match, 7-6, 6-4, and seal the victory for his team.
“There were some positive things that we can take away from today’s match,” said Brown. “We look forward to seeing some of these team’s in the future in a more neutral environment.”
LSU will be in action again Sunday, when the team travels to Nashville to square off with SEC East foe Vanderbilt.
#29 Kentucky 4, #17 LSU 3
Singles
1. # 38 Ken Skupski (LSU) def # 32 Bruno Agostinelli (UK) 6-2 6-4
2. #41 Alex Hume (UK) def. Colt Gaston (LSU) 7-6, 6-4
3. #121 Nate Emge (UK) Def. Mark Growcott (LSU) 6-4, 6-3
4. Carey Rubin (UK) Def. Danny Bryan (LSU) 6-3, 6-3
5. James Cluskey (LSU) def. Greg Johnstone (UK) 6-3, 6-4
6. Marcus Sundh (UK) def. Kevin Dessauer (LSU) 6-0, 6-1
Doubles
1. #18 Skupski/Growcott (LSU) def. Emge/Hume (UK) 8-4
2. #39 Gaston Bryan (LSU) def. Sundh/Johnstone (UK) 8-1
3. White/Cluskey (LSU) def. Agostinelli/Kenny Hodge (UK) 8-2