ATHENS, Ga. — The No. 15-ranked LSU men’s tennis team struggled throughout it’s round of 16 match with No. 2 Ohio State as it fell by a 4-0 score Thursday morning at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex.
The Tigers finish the season with an 18-7 record and were unable to capture a win in singles or doubles for the first time this season. Ohio State improves to 30-1 and will play the winner of the Ole Miss and Illinois match on Saturday at 11 am CST.
“Ohio State played extremely well today and they came out on fire,” LSU head coach Jeff Brown said. “I thought we fought hard but we couldn’t get the momentum to capitalize on. We had some chances on a couple of courts. (Kevin) Dessauer was injured in doubles which hurt us. Ohio State is defiantly playing at a high level and will be hard to beat.”
The Tigers found themselves trailing throughout doubles and could not capture the momentum on any of the three courts.
On court three, Dessauer and Jan Zelezny were defeated by Ohio State’s Bryan Koneicko and Steven Moneke, 8-4.
On court two, James Cluskey and Ken Skupski held their own in the early goings of their match with Ohio State’s Drew Eberly and Justin Kronauge. However, with the score tied 4-all, the Tiger tandem could only capture one more game as the Buckeyes went on to win the match by an 8-5 decision.
Danny Bryan and Colt Gaston were down 6-3 on court one when the doubles point was clinched.
The Tigers’ woes continued in singles as they lost five of six first sets.
Ohio State’s Bryan Koneicko, ranked No. 20 nationally, took the first set from the No. 24-ranked Skupski, 6-3. Skupski pushed it to a third set by capturing a 6-3 win in the second set.
Gaston picked up an impressive first set win against the No. 27-ranked Mullings. Mullings fired back in the second set, winning by a 6-4 mark.
Both Skupski and Gaston’s match were called as Bryan, Cluskey and Zelezny all fell in straight sets, clinching the match for Ohio State.
The loss is the final team match for LSU’s trio of seniors: Bryan, Eric DeRoche and Skupski.
A 5-11 senior from River Ridge, La., DeRoche has been a member of the LSU tennis team the past two seasons and has been a key ingredient to the Tigers success during that time. Last fall, He and then double partner Dessauer won the doubles bracket at the Ragin Cajun Classic in November, which put them in the doubles ranking at No. 44 at the time. He teamed up with Martel Campbell to take the C Flight doubles bracket at the Rice Invitational in September.
Bryan, Cluskey, Gaston and Skupski’s season will continue as they will take part in the individual portion of the tournament. Bryan and Skupski will take part in the 64-player NCAA singles draw on Wednesday, May 23 and all four Tigers will compete in the 32-team doubles draw on Thursday, May 24. The individual brackets will be released May 22. Bryan and Gaston enter the doubles tournament as the No. 4 seed.
“We have no regrets about this season,” Brown commented. “We accomplished a number of things and our three seniors are leaving this program in better shape than when they arrived. We are excited about the future”
#2 Ohio State 4, #15 LSU 0
NCAA Men’s Tennis Tournament
Round of 16
May 17, 2007 at Athen, Ga.
Singles competition:
1. #20 Bryan Koneicko (OSU) led. #24 Ken Skupski (LSU), 6-3, 3-6, 2-1 (unfinished)
2. #6 Steven Moneke (OSU) def. #32 Danny Bryan (LSU) 6-4, 6-2
3. Colt Gaston (LSU) tied #27 Devin Mullings (OSU), 6-4, 4-6 (unfinished)
4. Justin Kronauge (OSU) led #94 Kevin Dessauer (LSU), 6-3, 5-1 (unfinished)
5. Chris Klingermann (OSU) def. James Cluskey (LSU), 6-2, 6-3
6. Drew Eberly (OSU) def. Jan Zelezny (LSU) 6-1, 6-1
Doubles competition:
1. #11 Chris Klingermann/Devin Mullings (OSU) led. #4 Danny Bryan/Colt Gaston (LSU) 6-3 (unfinished)
2. #48 Drew Eberly/Justin Kronauge (OSU) def. #22 James Cluskey/Ken Skupski (LSU), 8-5
3. Bryan Koneicko/Steven Moneke (OSU) def. Kevin Dessauer/Jan Zelezny (LSU), 8-4
Match Notes:
Doubles: (3, 2); Singles (2, 5, 6)
NCAA Round of 16 Schedule
Thursday, May 17
Athens, Ga.
Match 1: (3) Baylor def. Alabama, 4-0
Match 2: NC State def. (11) Texas, 4-3
Match 3: (2) Ohio St. def. (15) LSU, 4-0
Match 4: (10) Illinois def. (7) Ole Miss, 4-3
Match 5: (4) Virginia vs. (13) Wake Forest, 2 p.m.
Match 6: (5) Notre Dame vs. (12) USC, 2 p.m.
Match 7: (1) Georgia vs. Florida, 5 p.m.
Match 8: (8) Oklahoma St. vs. (9) UCLA, 5 p.m.
Quarterfinal Schedule
May 19, 2007
Match 9: (3) Baylor vs. NC State, 8 a.m.
Match 10: (2) Ohio St. vs. (7) Ole Miss, 11 a.m.
Match 11: Match 5 Winner vs. Match 6 Winner, 2 p.m.
Match 12: Match 7 Winner vs. Match 8 Winner, 5 p.m.