BATON ROUGE — The 18th-ranked LSU men’s tennis team picked up its biggest win of the season Saturday afternoon by defeating 25th-ranked Texas A&M, 5-2, at W.T. “Dub” Robinson Tennis Stadium.
LSU’s record improves to 4-1, with all four wins coming at the “Dub.” The Tigers have now defeated the Aggies (3-3) four-straight times.
“We had some important turning points in this match,” said LSU head coach Jeff Brown. “With our two freshmen dominating their matches and all the upperclassmen fighting for a third set, it gave us several opportunities to get that fourth point. We felt we did a very good job of competing. There were no easy victories for them and it turned out there were some mismatches for us. A&M fought and played very well. They are going to be a tough team and will improve the rest of the season just like we will.”
In doubles, juniors James Cluskey and Michael Venus gave LSU the early advantage by dominating Mike Beatty and Chris Chirico, 8-1, on court two.
Texas A&M retaliated on court one when its 22nd-ranked doubles duo of Conor Pollock and Austin Karjicek defeated Colt Gaston and Julien Gauthier, 8-2.
The doubles point would be decided on court three with the senior tandem of Kevin Dessauer and Jan Zelezny facing the Aggie pair of Matt Bain and Will Spencer. Both teams went shot for shot in the early goings of the match to put the score at 5-all.
The Tiger tandem went up 7-5 before relinquishing two games to set the score at 7-all. Dessauer and Zelezny prevailed by taking the final two games and giving LSU the doubles point.
Freshmen Gauthier and Sebastian Carlsson quickly extended LSU’s lead to 3-0 as they claimed straight-set victories on court three and six, respectfully.
Carlsson’s win pushes his record to an outstanding 15-4. Carlsson has won nine of his last ten matches with all nine of his wins coming in straight sets.
The rest of the singles matches would not go so easy.
Gaston won his first set against Kayvon Karimi, 6-2, but quickly lost his momentum as he fell in the second set by a 6-1 score. Gaston’s struggles continued as he fell in the final set, 6-4, to put LSU’s lead at 3-1.
LSU’s 3-1 lead looked shaky with the remaining three Tigers fighting for a third set.
On court one, 70th-ranked Venus squared off with 22nd-ranked Pollock. The two ranked juniors went toe-to-toe in the first set as they battled to a tiebreaker. Pollock outlasted Venus in the tiebreaker by a 7-4 score.
Venus showed great bounce-back ability by cruising in the second set by a 6-2 mark. Venus fell behind in the early goings of the final set as he trailed 4-1. The resilient Venus would not be denied as he won an incredible five straight games to get the win and clinch the match for the Tigers.
Venus said he never felt like he was out of the match.
“Throughout the match I felt I could win,” he commented. “I just missed a few shots I should have had, but I knew if I stuck with my game I could win.”
Even with the match in hand, team captain Dessauer extended LSU’s lead by overcoming a first-set deficit to defeat Chirico, 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (5).
LSU opens conference play Friday, Feb. 29, when it travels to SEC West rival Alabama for a 1 p.m. match.
#18 LSU def. #25 Texas A&M, 5-2
Feb. 23, 2008 at Baton Rouge, La.
W.T. “Dub” Robinson Tennis Stadium
Singles
1. #70 Michael Venus (LSU) def. #27 Conor Pollock (TXA&M), 6-7 (4), 6-2, 6-4
2. Will Spencer (TXA&M) def. Jan Zelezny (LSU), 6-4, 6-7 (3), 6-4
3. Julien Gauthier (LSU) def. Jerry Makowski (TXA&M), 6-0, 6-2
4. Kayvon Karimi (TXA&M) def. Colt Gaston (LSU), 2-6, 6-1, 6-4
5. Kevin Dessauer (LSU) def. Chris Chirico (TXA&M), 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (5)
6. Sebastian Carlsson (LSU) def. Matt Bain (TXA&M), 6-2, 6-0
Doubles
1. #22 Conor Pollock/Austin Karjicek (TXA&M) def. Colt Gaston/Julien Gauthier (LSU), 8-2
2. James Cluskey/Michael Venus (LSU) def. Mike Beatty/Chris Chirico (TXA&M), 8-1
3. #57 Kevin Dessauer/Jan Zelezny (LSU) def. Matt Bain/Will Spencer (TXA&M), 9-7
Match Notes:
LSU: 4-1; National ranking #18
Texas A&M: 3-3; National ranking #25
Order of finish: Doubles (2, 1, 3); Singles (3, 6, 4, 1, 5, 2)