TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — The 18th-ranked LSU men’s tennis team fell in its first Southeastern Conference match of the season Friday afternoon when it fell to 20th-ranked Alabama, 5-2, at the Alabama Varsity Courts.
The Tigers (4-2, 0-1 SEC) weren’t able to pick up a win in doubles against the Tide (9-3, 1-0 SEC) which put them in a tough battle in singles against the more experience Tide.
“It was an extremely close hard-fought match,” said LSU head coach Jeff Brown. Their guys have a little bit more experience than we do. They did a good job of using their experienced guys. We fought really hard. We didn’t play a good doubles point today and that was the only real disappointment. We responded well after doubles but they had too many spots where it was a senior against a freshman.”
In doubles, LSU’s senior duo of Kevin Dessauer and Jan Zelezny had the closest match on court three against Javier Bes and Sammy Struyf. The Tiger tandem pushed the match to a tiebreaker but struggled in the extra period with the Tide winning by a 7-2 mark.
In singles, team captain Dessauer quickly tied the score by knocking off Michael Jung, 6-3, 6-0, for his tenth win of the season. The second-team All-SEC member is on a five-match win streak.
Sophomore James Cluskey went the distance against Daniel Buikema. Buikema took the first set, 6-4. Cluskey quickly returned the favor by wining the second set by the same score. In the final set, the two SEC foes went back and forth to push the match to a tiebreaker. Cluskey was able to outlast Buikema in the tiebreaker by an 11-9 score.
Michael Venus and Zelezny took their opponents to a third set.
After falling in the first set against Saketh Myneni, Venus needed a second-set tiebreaker, 7-6 (4), to extend the match to a third set. Myneni controlled the final set with a 6-3 score.
Zelezny won his first set against Mathieu Thibaudeau in a tiebreaker, but struggled the rest of the way and his match was called with Thibaudeau up 3-2 in the third.
Freshmen Carlsson and Gauthier both struggled in their matches against senior Tide players as they each fell in straight sets.
LSU will remain in the state of Alabama for their next match when it faces Auburn on Sunday at 1 p.m.
#20 Alabama def. #18 LSU, 5-2
Feb. 29, 2008 at Tuscaloosa, Ala.
Alabama Varsity Courts
Singles
1. Saketh Myneni (UA) def. #70 Michael Venus (LSU), 6-2, 6-7 (3-6), 6-3
2. Mathieu Thibaudeau (UA) def. Jan Zelenzy (LSU), 6-7 (4-7), 6-4, 3-2
3. Sammy Struyf (UA) def. Julien Gauthier (LSU), 1-6, 6-3, 6-3
4. James Cluskey (LSU) def. Daniel Buikema (UA), 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (11-9)
5. Javier Bes (UA) def. Sebastian Carlsson (LSU), 6-4, 6-3
6. Kevin Dessauer (LSU) def. Michael Jung (UA), 6-3, 6-0
Doubles
1. #37 Daniel Buikema/Mathieu Thibaudeau (UA) def. Colt Gaston/Julien Gauthier (LSU), 8-4
2. Michael Jung/Saketh Myneni (UA) def. James Cluskey/Michael Venus (LSU), 8-4
3. Javier Bes/Sammy Struyf (UA) def. #57Kevin Dessauer/Jan Zelezny (LSU), 8-7 (2)
# – national ranking
Match Notes:
LSU 4-2; National ranking #18
Alabama 9-3; National ranking #20
Order of finish: Doubles (2,1,3); Singles (6,3,5,1,4,2)