BATON ROUGE — The 18th-ranked LSU men’s tennis team swept Southern Miss and Southern, each by a 7-0 score Sunday afternoon at the W.T. “Dub” Robinson Tennis Stadium.
The Tigers (3-1) won all six doubles matches and took all 12 singles matches in straight sets against the Golden Eagles (1-6) and Jaguars (0-4).
LSU and Southern Miss had a tough fight for the doubles point with each match being tied at 4-all. The Tigers were able to close out each match to give LSU the doubles sweep.
“We appreciated the competition level today that both teams we faced had,” said LSU head coach Jeff Brown. “They will both be tough teams in their respective conferences. Those are two of the strongest lineups these teams have had in recent years. Teddy Viator and Jeff Conyers have done excellent jobs recruiting to their schools.”
Kevin Dessauer cruised in his first set against Diego Machuca of Southern Miss, 6-1, but fell behind 5-2 in the second set. The Tiger team captain prevented a third set by wining five straight games to get the victory and give his team it’s first 7-0 victory of the day. Dessauer has now won three straight matches.
Against Southern, it only took 21 minutes for the first LSU doubles pair to come off the court as Sebastian Carlsson and Jan Zelezny handily defeated Onx Matong and Bino Rasedisa, 8-1.
Just like his doubles match, Zelezny was efficient in his singles match by claiming victory in 27 minutes against Bino Rasedisa, 6-0, 6-0.
Carlsson and Zelezny each won two singles matches on Sunday and share a team-high in wins with 14.
Martel Campbell competed in his first match since the Auburn Invitational in November. The Santa Ana, Calif. native defeated Kashwayne Nelson, 6-4, 6-2, for his fifth-straight win and improved his record to 6-3.
LSU has a tough road ahead before conference play begins with non-conference matches against Clemson on Thursday at 2 p.m. and Texas A&M on Saturday, Feb. 23, at 1 p.m.
“Our team had great focus and intensity today with back-to-back matches and are looking forward to our two matches this week,” Brown commented.
Feb. 17, 2008 at Baton Rouge, La.
W.T. “Dub” Robinson Tennis Stadium
#18 LSU def. Southern Miss, 7-0
Singles
1. Michael Venus (LSU) def. Andrew Poole (USM), 6-0, 6-1
2. #88 Jan Zelezny (LSU) def. Domagoi Anic (USM), 6-1, 6-1
3. Julien Gauthier (LSU) def. Jan Brumeister (USM), 6-2, 6-2
4. James Cluskey (LSU) def.Oscar Machuca (USM), 6-2, 6-1
5. Kevin Dessauer (LSU) def. Diego Machuca (USM) 6-1, 7-5
6. Sebastian Carlsson (LSU) def. Strate Krstevski (USM), 6-4, 6-3
Doubles
1. Colt Gaston/Julien Gauthier (LSU) def. Andrew Poole/Markusa Wessinghage (USM) 8-5
2. James Cluskey/Michael Venus (LSU) def. Domagoj Anic/Jan Brumeister (USM), 8-6
3. Sebastian Carlsson/Jan Zelezny (LSU) def. Diego Machuca/Oscar Machuca (USM), 8-4
Match Notes:
LSU: 2-1; National ranking #18
Southern Miss: 1-6
Order of finish: Doubles (1, 3, 2); Singles (1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 5)
#18 LSU def. Southern, 7-0
Singles
1. Michael Venus (LSU) def. Marlon Gichie (SOUTHERN), 6-1, 6-0
2. #88 Jan Zelezny (LSU) def. Bino Rasedisa (SOUTHERN), 6-0, 6-0
3. Julien Gauthier (LSU) def. Onx Matong (SOUTHERN), 6-0, 6-3
4. James Cluskey (LSU) def. Elvis Espinal (SOUTHERN), 6-1, 6-0
5. Sebastian Carlsson (LSU) def. Tyler Chin (SOUTHERN), 6-3, 6-2
6. Martel Campbell (LSU) def. Kashwayne Nelson (SOUTHERN), 6-4, 6-2
Doubles
1. James Cluskey/Michael Venus (LSU) def. Tyler Chin/Marlon Gichie (SOUTHERN), 8-3
2. Sebastian Carlsson/Jan Zelezny (LSU) def. Onx Matong/Bino Rasedisa (SOUTHERN), 8-1
3. Martel Campbell/Julien Gauthier (LSU) def. Elvis Espinal/Kashwayne Nelson (SOUTHERN), 9-7 (3)
Match Notes:
LSU: 3-1; National ranking #18
Southern: 0-4
Order of finish: Doubles (2, 1, 3); Singles (2, 1, 3, 4, 5, 6)