COLLEGE STATION, Texas — Ireland native James Cluskey of the No.13-ranked LSU men’s tennis team celebrated St. Patrick’s Day by clinching the Tigers’ match against the Texas A&M Aggies, 4-3, Saturday afternoon at the P. Mitchell Tennis Center.
After winning the doubles point, the Tigers fell behind 3-2 during singles before Danny Bryan and Cluskey finished strong in their final singles set to push the Tigers to victory.
The win marks the third-straight time the Tigers (10-2, 3-1 SEC) have defeated the Aggies (10-5, 0-0 Big 12). The Aggies hold a 20-16 record all-time against the Tigers.
“You can’t say enough about the resiliency of our guys,” LSU head coach Jeff Brown said. “Danny (Bryan) and Kevin (Dessauer) continue to play well. It was only fitting that Cluskey clinched it for us on this holiday.”
The day started off with a gut-wrenching battle for the doubles point. On court three, LSU’s Dessauer and Jan Zelezny faced Mike Beatty and Bryan Wooten of Texas A&M. The LSU duo struggled in the match and could not take the lead as they fell to the Aggie pair, 8-4.
The final two matches would not go so easy.
On court two, Bryan and Colt Gaston fell behind early against Matt Bain and Conor Pollock of Texas A&M, losing the first two games. The Tiger tandem came back to tie it at 2-all and started to pull away by taking a 5-3 lead. The Aggie duo bounced back to tie it at 5-all. The teams split the remaining six games to send the match to a tiebreaker. The experienced LSU duo kept the team’s chance at the doubles point alive as they won the tiebreaker. The win improves the Tiger tandem’s record to 13-1 this season.
Court one’s match transpired in similar fashion.
Cluskey and Ken Skupski went back and forth with Brett Joelson and John Nallon. Neither team was able to claim a two game lead as their match would also go to a tiebreaker. The Tigers were again resilient in the tiebreaker as they won it to give the Tigers the doubles point. It is the 10th time out of the team’s twelve matches that they have won the doubles point.
“Doubles play went for an hour and a half, but our guys stayed focused,” Brown said. “Skupski and Cluskey hung in their match and were able to pull through. Bryan and Gaston stayed composed and dealt with a tough crowd to clinch the point.”
Dessauer gave the Tigers a 2-0 edge by cruising to a straight sets victory over John Nallon, 6-3, 6-0. The New Orleans native is 10-2 in dual play this season.
The Aggies quickly retaliated by winning on court two and five to tie the match at 2-all.
On court one, senior Skupski took the first set against Jerry Makowski, 6-3. Makowski returned the favor in the second set winning by a 6-3 count. Skupski held his own in the final set but could not outlast Makowski, as he lost by a 6-4 decision giving the Aggies a 3-2 lead.
Co-captain Bryan responded on court three where he shut down Luka Ocvirk, 6-1, 4-6, 6-3, to set Cluskey up for the clinch.
Cluskey spilt his first two sets with Joelson and than breezed in the third set, winning by a 6-2 score to give the Tigers the win. The Ireland native celebrated the clinch by throwing his arms in the air and shouting “Happy St. Patrick’s Day!”
LSU will take a two-day break before returning to its home court to battle No. 6-ranked Illinois Tuesday, March 20, at 4 p.m.
#13 LSU 4, #46 Texas A&M 3
March 17, 2007 at College Station, Texas
Singles competition:
1. Jerry Makowski (Texas A&M) def. #21 Ken Skupski (LSU), 3-6, 6-3, 6-4
2. Conor Pollock (Texas A&M) def. Colt Gaston (LSU), 6-1, 6-4
3. #37 Danny Bryan (LSU) def. Luka Ocvirk (Texas A&M), 6-1, 4-6, 6-3
4. #86 Kevin Dessauer (LSU) def. John Nallon (Texas A&M), 6-3, 6-0
5. Matt Bain (Texas A&M) def. Jan Zelezny (LSU), 6-1, 7-5
6. James Cluskey (LSU) def. Brett Joelson (Texas A&M), 7-6, 4-6, 6-2
Doubles competition:
1.#5 James Cluskey/Ken Skupski (LSU) def. Brett Joelson/John Nallon (Texas A&M), 9-8
2.#9 Danny Bryan/Colt Gaston (LSU) def. Matt Bain/Conor Pollock (Texas A&M), 9-8
3. Mike Beatty/Bryan Wooten (Texas A&M) def. Kevin Dessauer/Jan Zelezny (LSU), 8-4
# – national rankings
Match notes:
Order of finish: Doubles (3,2,1); Singles (4, 2, 5, 1,3, 6)