COLUMBUS, Ohio — James Cluskey and Ken Skupski of the LSU men’s tennis team advanced to the quarterfinal round of the doubles portion of ITA National Intercollegiate Indoor Championships.
The Tiger tandem will now face No. 21-ranked Markus Dichardt and Christian Groh of San Diego State on Friday at 8:45 a.m. CT.
“James and Ken did a good job of holding serve and waiting for their opportunity to break and than serving it out for the win,” LSU associate head coach Mark Booras said.
After falling behind early against Andrei Kumanstov and Mikael Pavlou of Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, the duo bounced back to take the match by an 8-6 decision.
In singles, Skupski went to three sets with Boise State’s Luke Shields, but could not outlast Shields in the third set as the he lost the match,7-6 (6), 3-6, 6-4.
“Ken played really well and he faced a very tough opponent today,” Booras said. “The match came down to a couple of points in the third set, which just fell the other guy’s way.”
Skupski will move on to the singles consolation bracket tomorrow beginning at 3:30 p.m.
2006 ITA NATIONAL INTERCOLLEGIATE INDOOR CHAMPIONSHIPS
Day 1 Results
November 2, 2006
Singles
Round of 32
#33 Luke Shields (Boise State) def. #12 Ken Skupski (LSU), 7-6 (6), 3-6, 6-4
Doubles
Round of 16
#28 James Cluskey/Ken Skupski (LSU) def. Andrey Kumanstov/Mikael Pavlou (Texas A&M CC), 8-6
Day 2 Schedule
November 3, 2006
Singles Consolation
#12 Ken Skupski (LSU) vs. #34 Arvid Purnanen (Virginia Tech), not before 3:30 p.m.
Doubles
Quarterfinal
#28 James Cluskey/Ken Skupski (LSU) vs. #21 Markus Dichardt/Christian Groh (SDS), 8:45 a.m.