BATON ROUGE — Senior Ken Skupski of the No. 13-ranked LSU men’s tennis team picked up his 100th career win to clinch LSU’s win, 5-2, against the No. 12-ranked Alabama Crimson Tide Friday afternoon at W.T. “Dub” Robinson Tennis Stadium.
LSU’s win is the first time the Tigers (14-4, 6-3 SEC) have won this season without the doubles point. Alabama’s record drops to 15-6 and 5-4 in the SEC.
“The team was determined today to give ourselves a chance to win regardless of anything that happened, including the doubles point,” LSU head coach Jeff Brown said.
Skupski’s win ties him with Brown for 4th on the LSU career singles wins list. Brown played for the Tigers from 1985-88.
“I hope by the end of the season that Ken is far past me,” Brown commented. “He has worked extremely hard during his time here and I hope he continues to have great success.”
The No. 19-ranked team of James Cluskey and Skupski gave the Tigers the early advantage in doubles as they stormed past Josph Jung and Saketh Myneni, 8-2. The duo has won three-straight matches.
On court one, Danny Bryan and Colt Gaston faced Alabama’s Dan Buikema and Mathieu Thibaudeau. The Tide tandem jumped out to a 3-0 advantage before the Tigers rallied back to tie it at 3-all. The two duos split the next four games to tie it at 5-all. The Tiger pair was never able to take the lead in the match as they fell by an 8-5 score. The loss is only the second on the season for Bryan and Gaston and snapped their eight-match win streak.
Kevin Dessauer and Jan Zelezny struggled in their match on court three as they fell to the Alabama duo of Jarvis Bes and Billy Mertz to give Alabama the doubles point.
Dessauer and Zelezny quickly redeemed themselves in singles as they cruised to straight-sets victories to put LSU in the lead, 2-1.
Gaston also rebounded in singles as he shut down Sammy Struyf, 7-5, 6-3, to extend LSU’s lead to 3-1.
Alabama retaliated on court two where Mertz took out Bryan, 6-2, 6-4.
Mertz’s win would be the only singles win for Alabama.
Skupski was challenged by Jung on court one but came out on top to capture the milestone win and clinch the victory for the Tigers.
“It’s a great achievement to get to triple figure wins in college tennis,” Skupski said. “To pass my coach is also a great achievement. When I first came to college, I saw Jeff at No. 4 in the rankings and I aspired to pass him during my time here. I am looking to go to No. 3 now. Tom Hand is currently No. 3 (107 wins) and it would be nice to pass another Brit and end my senior year on a high note.”
Cluskey capped off LSU’s victory by defeating Bes, 7-6, 6-1
The Tigers will be back in action Sunday when they host the Auburn Tigers at 1 p.m.
#13 LSU 5, #12 Alabama 2
April 6, 2007 at Baton Rouge, La.
Singles competition:
1. #24 Ken Skupski (LSU) def. #82 Joseph Jung (UA), 6-4,
2. #86 Billy Mertz (UA) def. #34 Danny Bryan (LSU), 6-2, 6-4
3. Colt Gaston (LSU) def. Sammy Struyf (UA), 7-5, 6-3
4. #76 Kevin Dessauer (LSU) def. Mathieu Thibaudeau (UA), 6-3, 6-2
5. James Cluskey (LSU) def. Jarvis Bes (UA), 7-6, 6-1
6. Jan Zelezny (LSU) def. Saketh Myneni (UA), 6-4, 6-3
Doubles competition:
1. #26 Dan Buikema/Mathieu Thibaudeau (UA) def. #7 Danny Bryan/Colt Gaston (LSU), 8-5
2. #19 James Cluskey/Ken Skupski (LSU) def. Joseph Jung/Saketh Myneni (UA), 8-2
3. Jarvis Bes/Billy Mertz (UA) def. Kevin Dessauer/Jan Zelezny (LSU), 8-4
# national rankings
Match notes:
Order of finish: Doubles (2, 1, 3); Singles (4, 6, 2, 3, 1, 5)