ATHENS, Ga. — LSU’s top doubles pair of Danny Bryan and Colt Gaston was eliminated in the quarterfinals of the NCAA Doubles Tournament Saturday afternoon as they were defeated by the defending champs Kyle Anderson and Ryan Rowe of Illinois, 6-4, 6-4, at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex.
Bryan and Gaston finish their career together as one of the best doubles duos in LSU history. They compiled a 66-11 record together, including going 24-4 this season. The ITA All-American team won the SEC Indoor Doubles Championship in January.
“The difference in the match was a couple of points as Illinois served themselves out of a number of break points,” LSU head coach Jeff Brown said. “We had a couple of errors in the second set that proved to be too much to overcome. This loss doesn’t take away from the run these guys had. Danny and Colt have been a remarkable team and had an outstanding record the past two years. They will go down as one of the best teams in LSU history.”
The teams went game-for-game at the beginning of the match as they were tied 4-all in the first set. Illinois won the next game and broke Bryan’s serve in the 10th game to win the first set by a 6-4 decision.
The LSU pair gave a valiant effort in the second set but was not able to push it to a third set as they lost by the same score, 6-4.
The loss marks the end of senior Bryan’s career as a Tiger.
Brown said Bryan has been a “prototype” of what he expects out of his players.
“Danny is what we want our program to be about – maximizing your physical and mental ability through hard work and great attitude. He continued to improve personally and physically every year and that is exactly what we want to get out of everyone that comes through our program. He is someone we will point to as example of what we expect from our players.”
A 6-4 senior from New Orleans, Bryan has been a co-captain for the Tigers the past two seasons. The four-year letterman sits tied for 14th place on the LSU career singles wins list with 83. Bryan has compiled 110 career doubles wins. The New Orleans native has represented the tennis team well in the community as he was recently named the ITA/Arthur Ashe Jr. for Leadership and Sportsmanship. He was named the 2007 LSU Male Volunteer of the Year and received SEC Community Service team honors the past three seasons.
NCAA Men’s Tennis Doubles Championship
May 24, 2007
Round of 32
(4) #4 Danny Bryan/Colt Gaston (LSU) def. #54 Tim Bradshaw/Brady Crosby (Western Michigan), 6-3, 4-6, 6-4
#22 James Cluskey/Ken Skupski (LSU) def. #56 Piotr Dilaj/Luke Shields (Boise St.), 7-5, 6-3
NCAA Men’s Tennis Doubles Championship
Round of 16
May 25, 2007
(4) #4 Danny Bryan/Colt Gaston (LSU) def. #32 Markus Dickhardt/Christian Groh (San Diego State), 6-2, 6-4
(3) #3 Jesse Levine/Greg Ouellette (Florida) def. #22 James Cluskey/Ken Skupski (LSU), 6-4, 6-3
Quarterfinals
May 26, 2007
(5-8) #8 Kyle Anderson/Ryan Rowe (Illinois) def. (4) #4 Danny Bryan/Colt Gaston (LSU; 24-4 overall), 6-4, 6-4
NCAA Tournament seed in parenthesis before name
# – indicates ITA national ranking entering tournament