PALO ALTO, Calif. — LSU’s duo of Mark Growcott and Ken Skupski saw their impressive two-year doubles campaign come to an end Friday night as they fell in straight sets 7-6(2), 7-6 (5) to No. 3-ranked Andre Begemann and Scott Doerner of Pepperdine in the round of 16 doubles play at the men’s tennis NCAA Championships.
The Tiger tandem finished the season with a 23-8 record and a 57-18 record over their career together as a doubles team. Growcott finished his last year of eligibility and Skupski, a junior, will return next year.
“It was a real high quality match with neither team breaking serve but they hit a couple of clutch shots in the second tiebreaker to take the match,” LSU head coach Jeff Brown said. “I am just very proud of this team they have had great success together. Mark is one of the most decorated student-athletes we have had and he has only been here for a short time.”
Growcott only played two years for LSU but racked up an impressive resume as a Tiger.
In 2005, the Birmingham, England, native earned ITA All-American and First-Team All-SEC honors and finished the season ranked No. 4 in doubles competition as he and Skupski reached the finals of the NCAA Men’s Doubles National Championship.
This season Growcott got off to a slow start due to a hip injury but entered the season as the No. 37 ranked singles player and the No.1 doubles team with Skupski as they reached the round of 16 in the NCAA Championships for the second-straight year.
Despite losing Growcott, Brown is optimistic about Skupski’s return.
“With Ken going into his senior year a lot of times you see guys get senioritis, but I think he is so focused on his tennis career after college that he will continue to succeed and help this team win.”
The begining of the match went back and forth with neither pair leading by more then one game in the opening set. Growcott and Skupski went ahead 6-5, but Begemann and Doerner tied it back up at 6-all to send the set to a tiebreaker.
The Tigers notched the first point in the tiebreaker but were held to just one additional point the rest of the way as the Waves took the tiebreak, 7-2.
The heated battle carried over in the second set as both teams held serve the entire way. Pepperdine’s pair held a 5-4 lead and were one point away from victory. However, Skupski and Growcott showed their resiliency, firing back to take the game and tie the set at 5-all.
The teams split the next two games sending the match into a second-straight tiebreaker.
With the score tied 1-all Skupski and Growcott raced out to a 5-1 lead. However, the Tigers could not keep their momentum going as the Wave duo shut the Tigers out with six-straight points to take the tiebreaker, 7-2.
The Tigers were listed at No. 25 in the final team poll released by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association on Friday. It is the 22nd time in 23 years that the Tigers have finished the season in the top 25.
Individual and doubles rankings will be released after the tournament finishes.
“We had a pretty good year this year, but I think we can do better.” Brown said. “We have a quality group of guys coming back and some solid recruits that will be successful in the near future.”