BATON ROUGE — The No. 21-ranked LSU men’s tennis team defeated Southern Miss on Sunday afternoon at Paula G. Manship YMCA to complete its weekend sweep.
LSU (3-0) went through the weekend without losing a singles or doubles match. Additionally, the Tigers won all 31 singles sets that finished during the three-match stretch.
“You could tell our team was very excited to play a strong opponent that could challenge them,” LSU head coach Jeff Brown said. “They came out with a high level of intensity and great focus. If we can capture those things every match this season we will be very successful.”
Danny Bryan and Colt Gaston saw their first action of the dual season. In doubles, the duo split their first four games against Diego Machuca and Oscar Machuca of Southern Miss. The Tiger tandem cruised from there as they went on to take the next six games and the match.
After losing the first game, Ken Skupski and James Cluskey took the momentum by claiming the next seven games and went on to win the match by an 8-2 decision.
Kevin Dessauer and Jan Zelezny continue to improve as a team as they handily defeated the Southern Miss team of Domagoj Anic and Callen Fraychineaud by an 8-1 count. The win improves the LSU pair’s record to 4-3 for the season.
In singles, Dessauer won his second-straight match without losing a game after he defeated Diego Machuca.
Danny Bryan and Colt Gaston picked up their first singles win in dual play as they knocked off Oscar Machuca and Anic, respectively.
LSU now holds a 22-0 record all-time against Southern Miss.
LSU will be back in action on Saturday at 1 p.m. when UL-Lafayette comes to the W.T. “Dub” Robinson Tennis Stadium for the first match on the newly resurfaced tennis courts.
“It has been a very successful weekend,” Brown commented. “We accomplished a lot of things and we are looking forward to the challenges ahead of us.”
#21 LSU 7, Southern Miss 0
February 11, 2007 at Baton Rouge, La.
Singles
1. #9 Ken Skupski (LSU) def. Andrew Poole (USM), 6-1, 6-2
2. Colt Gaston (LSU) def. Domagoi Anic (USM), 6-2, 6-3
3. #68 Danny Bryan (LSU) def. Oscar Machuca (USM), 6-3, 6-1
4. Kevin Dessauer (LSU) def. Diego Machuca (USM), 6-0, 6-0
5. Jan Zelezny (LSU) def. Callen Fraychineaud (USM), 6-1, 6-1
6. James Cluskey (LSU) def. Wien Hood (USM), 6-2, 6-1
Doubles
1. #3 James Cluskey/Ken Skupski (LSU) def. Strate Krstevski/Andrew Poole (USM), 8-2
2. Danny Bryan/Colt Gaston (LSU) def. Diego Machuca/Oscar Machuca (USM), 8-2
3. Kevin Dessauer/Jan Zelezny (LSU) vs. Domagoj Anic/Callen Fraychineaud (USM), 8-1
Order of finish:
Singles: 4, 1, 5, 3, 6, 2
Doubles: 3, 2, 1
# – national rankings