STARKVILLE, Miss. — The No. 13-ranked LSU men’s tennis team overcame a one-hour rain delay to capture a 6-1 win against the Mississippi State Bulldogs Sunday afternoon at the A.J. Pitts Tennis Centre.
The win ended a two-match skid for the Tigers (13-4, 5-3 SEC) and snapped a three-match win streak for the Bulldogs (6-10, 3-5 SEC.)
“Considering the circumstances with the weather our team did well,” LSU head coach Jeff Brown said. “We are ready to get back home and continue to prepare for the SEC Tournament.”
In doubles, Danny Bryan and Colt Gaston continue to dominate as a doubles pair as they defeated Ivan Bjelica and Phillippe Frayssinoux, 8-2. The Tiger tandem has won 29 of their 30 matches.
The Tigers clinched the doubles point when the No. 14-ranked duo of James Cluskey and Ken Skupski downed Artem Kuznetsov and Pjotrs Necajevs, 8-5.
The Bulldog team of Chris Doerr and Ryan Farlow defeated Kevin Dessauer and Jan Zelezny, 8-6, to prevent the doubles sweep.
The Tigers quickly pushed their advantage to 3-0 when Bryan and Zelezny captured wins on courts two and six, respectively.
Bryan’s win places him in a tie with former Tiger Jose Leon for 19th place on LSU career win list with 80.
Gaston clinched the match for the Tigers with a solid straight-sets victory over Farlow, 7-5, 6-4.
The Tigers faced stiffer competition on courts four and five, where Dessauer and Cluskey were each taken to a third set. With the match already in hand, both matches were decided in a third-set tiebreaker. Both Tigers pulled through to push LSU’s lead to 6-0.
The Bulldogs were able to get one match from the Tigers in the last match, when Skupski fell to Frayssinoux, 7-5, 6-4.
LSU will return home for its next match when it hosts Alabama at 4 p.m. at the W.T. “Dub” Robinson Tennis Stadium.
#13 LSU 6, #61 Mississippi State 1
April 1, 2007 at Starkville, Miss.
Singles competition:
1. Philippe Frayssinoux (MSU) def. #24 Ken Skupski (LSU), 7-5, 6-4
2. #44 Danny Bryan (LSU) def. Artem Kuznetsov (MSU), 6-1, 6-1
3. Colt Gaston (LSU) def. Ryan Farlow (MSU), 7-5, 6-4
4. #111 Kevin Dessauer (LSU) def. Edouard Benchetrit (MSU), 3-6, 6-3, 10-8
5. James Cluskey (LSU) def. Chris Doerr (MSU), 6-4, 4-6, 10-5
6. Jan Zelezny (LSU) def. Eric Lim (MSU), 6-1, 6-0
Doubles competition:
1. #5 Danny Bryan/Colt Gaston (LSU) def. Ivan Bjelica/Phillippe Frayssinoux (MSU), 8-2
2. #14 James Cluskey/Ken Skupski (LSU) def. Artem Kuznetsov/Pjotrs Necajevs (MSU), 8-5
3. Chris Doerr/Ryan Farlow (MSU) def. Kevin Dessauer/Jan Zelezny (LSU), 8-6
# national ranking
Match notes:
Order of finish: Doubles (1, 2, 3) Singles (2, 6, 3, 5, 4, 1)