BATON ROUGE — The LSU men’s tennis team picked up a thrilling win Sunday, topping the No. 8-ranked Florida Gators, 4-3, in front of a full house at W. T. Robinson Stadium.
“This is a big step forward for our team and our program,” said LSU head coach Jeff Brown. “Top-10 wins are hard to come by.”
For the fourth straight match LSU (11-6, 4-2 SEC) swept its opponent in doubles. Sunday the Tigers looked as sharp as they have all season in doubles, blowing by Florida on all three courts and claiming the early point.
No. 12-ranked Ken Skupski and Mark Growcott were the first off the court after delivering a crisp, 8-3, win over Stephan Tell and Nestor Briceno.
For a second straight match James Cluskey and Paul White picked up the doubles clincher, besting Chris Brandi and Greg Ouellette, 8-3, as well.
LSU’s 14th-ranked duo of Colt Gaston and Danny Bryan picked up a big win on the No. 2 doubles court where they took a hard fought, 8-5, decision from Vladimir Obradovic and Ryan Sherry.
The Tigers were up 1-0, but coach Brown knew that overcoming the Gator’s powerful singles lineup would be his team’s biggest test.
“They go really deep in their singles lineup and it’s a credit to their program that they are able to put so many good players on the court,” said Brown. “Our guys just gave some gutsy performances and earned this win.”
Florida was able to take three of the singles matches from the Tigers, but the story lay in LSU’s clutch singles wins.
On court five, Cluskey came up big, picking up his third consecutive win and putting away Tell in straight sets, 6-4, 6-2.
On court one, Skupski battled Obradovic through two intense sets. The LSU junior took the first, 7-6 (4), in a tiebreaker. Skupski then finished off the Gator’s No. 1, breaking him in the final game of the second set to win 7-5.
Bryan, the LSU team captain, put the Tigers over the top with a win at the No. 4 spot. The junior from New Orleans fought through a perilously close, 11-9, tiebreaker to win the first set against Florida’s Chris Brandi. In set two Bryan came out hot and left no doubt about the outcome, taking the set, 6-2.
LSU will look to continue its SEC winning streak when it hosts SEC West rivals Ole Miss and Mississippi State next weekend. The Tigers will play Ole Miss on Friday at 2 p.m. and Mississippi State at 1 p.m. Sunday.
#19 LSU 4, #8 Florida 3
Singles
1. #22 Ken Skupski (LSU) def. # 95 Vladimir Obradovic (UF) 7-6 (4), 7-5
2. #32 Greg Ouellette (UF) def. Colt Gaston (LSU) 6-3, 6-3
3. #38 Nestor Briceno (UF) def. Mark Growcott (LSU) 6-3, 6-4
4. Danny Bryan (LSU) def. Chris Brandi (UF) 7-6 (9), 6-2
5. James Cluskey (LSU) def. # 100 Stefan Tell (UF) 6-4, 6-2
6. Ryan Sherry (UF) def. Jose Moncada (LSU) 6-2, 6-2
Doubles
1. #12 Skuski/Growcott def. Tell/Briceno 8-3
2. #14 Bryan/Gaston def. Brandi/Ouellette 8-5
3. Cluskey/White def. Obradovich/Sherry 8-3