NEW ORLEANS — The doubles team of Danny Bryan and Colt Gaston of the LSU men’s tennis team defeated Georgia’s John Isner and Josh Varela in the doubles final at the SEC Coaches Indoor Championships at Rivercenter Racquet and Health Club on Sunday.
The Tiger tandem went 4-0 during the tournament to claim the doubles crown.
In their semifinals match, Bryan and Gatson stormed out to a 5-0 lead, but Travis Helgeson and Matic Omerzel of Georgia quickly stole the momentum taking six out of the next seven games to tie the score 6-all. The Tigers would not be denied as they clinched the next two games to win the match by an 8-6 count.
“In their semifinals they really came out on fire and gained a lot of momentum,” LSU head coach Jeff Brown said. “They did a good job of staying calm after Georgia started to rally back.”
In the most heated match of the tournament, Ken Skupski and James Cluskey took on Georgia’s Isner and Varela to decide who would face Bryan and Gatson in the finals. The Bulldogs took an early 3-0 lead before the Tigers claimed four out of the next five games to tie the score at 4-all. Both teams held serve the rest of way to send the match in a tiebreaker.
The heated battled continued in the tiebreaker. The Bulldogs notched a 4-1 lead, but the Tigers started gaining momentum. With the Bulldogs up 6-4, the Tigers began to rally claiming the next three points to give them a 7-6 lead. The Tigers valiant effort was not enough as the Bulldogs went on to win the tiebreaker, punching their ticket to the finals.
After a 30-minute break, Bryan and Gatson went heads up with Isner and Varela in the finals. The Tigers had a 3-1 lead until the Bulldogs picked up their play to cut the Tigers lead to 5-4. The Tigers conquered the Bulldogs in the final three games to claim the match and the doubles title. The doubles loss is the first of the season for Georgia’s Isner.
“We had high expectations in the fall, but unfortunately with Colt’s injury we weren’t able to compete,” Bryan said. “We were a little rusty in the first couple of matches of the tournament but we started improving after each match and I really feel we played a complete match in the finals.”
Georgia came out victorious in both singles draws. The “A” draw finals will feature Georgia’s Isner and Helgeson. Ricardo Gonzales won the “B” draw title. Georgia will play the singles “A” final when they arrive back in Athens.
The next time the Tigers will be in action is when they open the duel season against Southern on Feb. 9 at LSU’s W.T. “Dub” Robinson Stadium.
Sunday, January 21, 2007
Results
Doubles Semifinals
(5) Danny Bryan/Colt Gaston def. (6) Travis Helgeson/Matic Omerzel (UGA), 8-6
John Isner/Josh Varela (UGA) def. (1) No. 3 Ken Skupski/James Cluskey (LSU), 9-8 (7)
Doubles Finals
(5) Danny Bryan/Colt Gaston def. John Isner/Josh Varela (UGA), 8-4