HOUSTON — The LSU men’s tennis team shined in its first action of the season as they swept the competition at the Courtyard by Marriot/Rice Invitational.
“Everybody competed well today,” said LSU head coach Jeff Brown. “We had great enthusiasm going into the competition and it showed.”
LSU’s doubles duo of Danny Bryan and Kevin Dessauer opened the day with a smooth 8-1 win over Tulsa’s Andy Connelly and Will Gray. Newcomer Jan Zelezny had an impressive showing as he teamed up with sophomore James Cluskey to take an 8-2 win over Rice’s Dennis Polyakov and Hoony Shin.
Bryan and Dessauer will now face Rice’s Jason Mok and Christoph M?ller at 9 a.m. Saturday in the second round of the A bracket. Zelezny and Cluskey will go up against Tulsa’s Diego Camacho and Ross Cunningham in the second round of the B bracket.
Eric DeRoche and Martel Campbell continued the Tigers’ momentum as they cruised to an 8-3 victory over Prarie View A&M’s Nicolas Bateman and Luis Godoy.
The Tiger tandem will continue their battle with the Panthers as they will face Andy Narido and Kudzai Chiridza in the second round of the B bracket.
In Singles, Zelezny picked up his first win as a Tiger defeating Tulsa’s Camacho, 6-3, 6-4.
“Zelezny really impressed us today,” Brown commented. “He played well in doubles and singles and really showed us what he was capable of.”
Co-captain Bryan notched an impressive victory, 6-0, 6-4, over Rice’s Mok.
Cluskey and Dessauer continued their strong play winning their singles matches 6-1, 6-4 and 6-3, 6-4 respectively.
Campbell came away with a straight set victory over SMU’s Rudy Garza, 6-1, 6-1.
The sweep did not come easy for the Tigers, as DeRoche’s match went to three sets. But the River Ridge native would not be denied as he escaped with a 6-4, 3-6, 6-0 victory over SMU’s Dennis Polyakov.
All of the Tigers will be in singles action again tomorrow.
“I know we played well today, but we can still improve,” Brown said. “We had some mistakes that we need to work on and hopefully we can continue our success over the weekend.”
Courtyard by Marriott/Rice Invitational
Day One Results
Flight A Doubles
Bryan/Dessauer (LSU) def. Gray/Connelly (Tulsa), 8-1
Zelezny/Cluskey (LSU) def. Polyakov/Shin (Rice), 8-2
Flight B Doubles
DeRoche/Campbell (LSU) def. Bateman/Godoy (Prarie View A&M), 8-3
Flight A Singles
Jan Zelezny (LSU) def. Diego Camacho (Tulsa), 6-3, 6-4
#101 Danny Bryan (LSU) def. Jason Mok (Rice), 6-0, 6-4
Flight B Singles
Kevin Dessauer (LSU) def. Ross Cunningham (Tulsa), 6-3, 6-4
James Cluskey def. Andy Connelly (Tulsa), 6-1, 6-4
Flight C Singles
Martel Campbell (LSU) def. Rudy Garza (SMU), 6-1. 6-1
Eric DeRoche (LSU) def. Dennis Polyakov (Rice), 6-4, 3-6, 6-0