KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Junior Kevin Dessauer of the LSU men’s tennis team clinched the match against Tennessee for the second-straight year as LSU defeated Tennessee, 4-3, on Saturday afternoon at Tennessee’s Varsity Tennis Courts.
This heated rivalry has ended with a 4-3 score five straight years, with the Tigers winning four of them. The win improves LSU’s record to 7-1 as Tennessee drops to 6-3.
“It was a well-fought match and doubles was a good start for us,” LSU head coach Jeff Brown said. “It was a battle in singles. Every match we won went to three sets. We showed a lot of fight and character today. Kevin continues to improve as a player and played his guts out to clinch it for us.”
Dessauer and Derek Stephens went down to the wire to decide the outcome. Dessauer won the first set, 6-4, but saw his 15-straight singles sets streak come to end when he fell in the second set, 6-3. The two competitors went back and forth in the final set to send it to a tiebreaker. Dessauer would not be denied as he won the tiebreaker to give the Tigers the win.
Co-captain Danny Bryan picked up a huge upset by knocking off No. 23 Bobby Cameron in three sets. Bryan struggled in the first set, losing by a 6-1 count. The New Orleans native took the momentum from there to dominate the next two sets, 6-1, 6-2. Bryan is now 17-3 on the season.
Junior Colt Gaston defeated Davey Sandgren, 6-4, 1-6, 6-4.
Senior Ken Skupski took his match against No. 29 Kaden Hensel to three sets. Skupski held his own in the first set but lost in a tiebreaker, 7-6. The two-time ITA All-American bounced back claiming the second set, 6-3. Skupski stumbled in the final set, losing 6-3.
James Cluskey and Jan Zelezny struggled in their matches as they both lost in straight sets.
In doubles, Dessauer and Zelezny striked first by capturing their match on court three against Sandgren and Johnny Thornton, 8-4.
Tennessee fired back on court two when the tandem of Adam Hubble and Ben Rogers upset the No. 6-ranked team of Cluskey and Skupski, 8-4.
The doubles would be decided by the battle on court one of Bryan and Gaston against Cameron and Hensel. The LSU pair jumped out to a 5-1 lead. The Tennessee duo battled back to capture four more games, but it wasn’t enough as the Tiger tandem pushed their winning streak to 21, by take the match by an 8-5 decision. The Tigers have won the doubles point in seven out of their eight matches.
LSU won’t have much time to celebrate its victory as they head to No.1 Georgia on Sunday. The Bulldogs are 11-0 after sweeping Arkansas, 7-0, Friday afternoon.
#20 LSU 4, #30 Tennessee 3
March 2, 2007 at Knoxville, Tenn.
Singles competition:
1. #29 Kaden Hensel (TENN) def. #24 Ken Skupski (LSU), 7-6, 3-6, 6-3
2. #62 Danny Bryan (LSU) def. #23 Bobby Cameron (TENN), 2-6, 6-1, 6-2
3. Colt Gaston (LSU) def. Davey Sandgren (TENN), 6-4, 1-6, 6-4
4. Kevin Dessauer (LSU) def. Derek Stephens (TENN), 6-4, 3-6, 7-6
5. Ben Rogers (TENN) def. Jan Zelezny (LSU), 6-2, 6-4
6. Kiril Tcherveniachki (TENN) def. James Cluskey (LSU), 7-6, 6-1
Doubles competition:
1. #25 Danny Bryan/Colt Gaston (LSU) def. #44 Bobby Cameron/Kaden Hensel (TENN), 8-5
2. Adam Hubble/Ben Rogers (TENN) def. #6 James Cluskey/Ken Skupski (LSU), 8-4
3. Kevin Dessauer/Jan Zelezny (LSU) def. Davey Sandgren/Johnny Thornton (TENN), 8-4
Match notes:
Order of finish: Doubles (3,2,1); Singles (5, 2, 6, 3, 1, 4)