COLUMBIA, S.C.– The No. 10-ranked LSU men’s tennis team took the doubles point and won three singles matches to defeat South Carolina, 4-0, Friday afternoon at the Sam Daniel Tennis Facility.
The victory for the Tigers (12-2, 4-1 SEC) is their fifth in a row and improves their all-time series record against the Gamecocks (10-7, 1-4 SEC) to 20-7.
After the Tigers clinched the victory, both coaches agreed to end the match.
“A win on the road in the SEC is tough and we will take all the ones we can get,” LSU head coach Jeff Brown said. “Today was a matter of everybody being responsible for their match and they handled everything that was thrown at them very well.”
LSU took a 1-0 lead by winning the doubles point for the 12th time in 14 matches. The No. 5-ranked duo of Danny Bryan and Colt Gaston easily defeated South Carolina’s Yevgeny Supeko and Joseph Veeder, 8-1, to improve their record to 15-1. The SEC Indoor Doubles Champions have now won 26 out of their last 27 matches.
Kevin Dessauer and Jan Zelezny handily defeated Ivan Cressoni and David Wolff, 8-4, to give the Tigers the doubles point.
In singles, Skupski faced little competition on court one as he defeated Pedro Rodrigues in straight sets, both by a 6-2 score. The win is the 98th of Skupski’s career. The two-time All-American sits 6th on LSU’s career singles victory list and is one win away from being tied with former Tiger Mario Pacheco for 5th place.
Newcomer Zelezny continues to be a key contributor to the Tigers as he breezed past David Wolff, 6-4, 6-1.
Bryan clinched the win for the Tigers by defeating Yevgeny Supeko, 6-4, 6-2. The New Orleans native leads the team with 21 victories this season.
LSU will be back in action on Sunday when they face No. 25 Florida for a noon match.
#10 LSU 4, #55 South Carolina 0
March 23, 2007 at Columbia, S.C.
Singles competition:
1. #24 Ken Skupski (LSU) def. Pedro Rodrigues (USC), 6-2, 6-2
2. #44 Danny Bryan (LSU) def. #117 Yevgeny Supeko (USC), 6-4, 6-2
3. Pedro Campos (USC) vs. Colt Gaston (LSU), 6-2, 6-6 (unfinished)
4. #111 Kevin Dessauer (LSU) vs. Ivan Cressoni (USC), 6-3, 5-4 (unfinished)
5. Jan Zelezny (LSU) def. David Wolff (USC), 6-4, 6-1
6. James Cluskey (LSU) vs. Spencer Feldman (USC), 4-6, 6-2 (unfinished)
Doubles competition:
1. Pedro Campos/Ivan Cressoni (USC) vs. #14 Ken Skupski/James Cluskey (LSU), 7-5 (unfinished)
2. #5 Danny Bryan/Colt Gaston (LSU) def. Yevgeny Supeko/Joseph Veeder (USC), 8-1
3. Kevin Dessauer/Jan Zelezny (LSU) def. Ivan Cressoni/David Wolff (USC), 8-4
Match notes:
Order of finish: Doubles (2, 3); Singles (1, 5, 2)