TULSA, Okla. — LSU men’s tennis team is set to compete against some of the top collegiate players in the Polo Ralph Lauren All-American Tennis Championships at the University of Tulsa this weekend.
Five Tigers will kickoff the tournament in the pre-qualifying rounds Saturday. Senior Eric DeRoche, juniors Martel Campbell, Kevin Dessauer and Jan Zelezny and sophomore James Cluskey must win three straight matches to advance to the qualifying round.
“It is going to take a combination of mental and physical stamina for our guys to get through this first weekend of qualifying,” LSU head coach Jeff Brown said. “You have to give your all every match because one loss and you are out.”
Campbell and DeRoche will begin Saturday’s action at 8 a.m. as they compete against Iowa’s Christian Bierich and Wichita State’s Albert Ballesta, respectively.
Cluskey will battle Cuan Farquharison of Oral Roberts at 11:30 a.m. The Ireland native will also team up senior Ken Skupski in the doubles portion of the qualifying round, which beings Tuesday. The doubles match will be Skupski’s first action of the season.
Kevin Dessauer will face Oklahoma’s Sergey Avdeyev at noon. Newcomer Jan Zelezny has a bye in the first round and will face the winner of the match between UT San Antonio’s Andre Morera and Ole Miss’s Chris Rea in the second round. Additionally, Dessauer and Zelezny will pair up to compete in the doubles portion of the qualifying.
Senior Danny Bryan has already earned a spot in the qualifying round, which starts Monday.
LSU’s No. 1 player, Skupski qualified for the main draw which starts Thursday.
This is the first of three national championship events during the 2006-07 collegiate tennis season. Two others are the ITA National Intercollegiate Indoor Championships in November and the season-ending NCAA Championships in May
Polo Ralph Lauren All-American Tennis Pre-Qualifying
Sept. 30, 2006
Round of 64
(8) Jan Zelezny (LSU) received bye
Martel Campbell (LSU) vs. Christian Bierich (Iowa), 8 a.m.
James Cluskey (LSU) vs. Cuan Farquharson (Oral Roberts), 9:30 a.m.
Eric DeRoche (LSU) vs. Albert Ballesta (Wichita State), 8 a.m.
Kevin Dessauer (LSU) vs. Sergey Avdeyev (Oklahoma), 10 a.m.
Round of 32 (if necessary)
(8) Jan Zelezny (LSU) vs. Chris Rea (Ole Miss), 1:30 p.m.
Martel Campbell (LSU) vs. (17-32) Josh Zavala (Texas)/Carlos Alvarez (Clemson), 1:30 p.m.
Eric DeRoche (LSU) vs. (17-32) Nejc Podkrajsek (Georgia State)/Jarrod Epkey (Ball State), 2 p.m.
James Cluskey (LSU) vs. (17-32) Diego Mattar (UT-Arlington)/Hendrik Stahmer (Nebraska), 3 p.m.
Kevin Dessauer (LSU) vs. (9-16) Irving Morales (Troy)/Gabriel Loredo, Sacramento State, 3:30 p.m.