BATON ROUGE — The 26th-ranked LSU men’s tennis team pushed its win streak to four Wednesday afternoon at W.T. “Dub” Robinson Tennis Stadium by defeating South Florida, 5-2.
The Tigers (8-3, 2-2 SEC) took two of the three doubles matches and snatched four singles matches to get the win over the Bulls (9-4, 2-0 Big East). LSU is now 7-0 all-time against South Florida.
“It took everything we had tonight to get the win,” LSU head coach Jeff Brown said. “The doubles point gave us some momentum. We still needed everyone to compete their hardest to get the four singles points we needed. We had a couple of special efforts with Sebastian (Carlsson) coming back and Michael (Venus) keeping his composure against a scrappy player.”
In doubles, juniors James Cluskey and Venus toppled South Florida’s Daniel Daudt and Thomas Estrada, 8-1, to give LSU the early advantage.
Carlsson and Kevin Dessauer continue to roll as a doubles pair. The Tiger tandem pushed their record to 4-0 and clinched the early point for the Tigers with an 8-5 win over Jamal Adderley and Michael Nussleind.
On the singles courts, 86th-ranked Venus extended LSU’s lead on court one by taking out the 78th-ranked Lucas Jovita, 6-4, 6-3. It marks the Orlando, Fla., native’s third win over a ranked opponent this season.
Zelezny followed Venus’ lead by taking his match against Hamed in straight sets, 7-5, 6-4, to put LSU up 3-0. The ITA Scholar-Athlete is on a four-match win streak.
After playing most of last season at the five and six spot, Zelezny has been a solid No. 2 for LSU with a 6-3 mark at the position.
“We continue to be impressed by the level Zelezny has raised his game to so far this season,” Brown commented.
South Florida got on the scoreboard for the first time on court three when Adderley took out Julien Gauthier, 2-6, 6-2, 4-6.
Freshman Carlsson continues to play beyond his years. After winning the first set, 7-5, against Diego Toledo, Carlsson found himself down 5-0 in the second set. The SEC Freshman of the Week rallied to win six out of the next seven games to put the set in a tiebreaker. Carlsson outlasted Toledo in the extra period to win by an 8-6 score to clinch the victory for the Tigers. Carlsson has won an outstanding 20 matches this season including his last five.
Dessauer improved his dual record to a perfect 9-0. The LSU Male Athlete of the Week blanked Nusslein in the first set but fell in the second by a 6-4 score. Dessauer found his rhythm again in the final set as he went up 5-1 before his opponent was forced to retire.
The Tigers will be out for revenge in their next match when they host the second-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes on Sunday at noon. The Buckeyes ended the Tigers’ season last year in the NCAA round of 16.
#26 LSU 5, #34 South Florida 2
March 12, 2008 at Baton Rouge, La.
W.T. “Dub” Robinson Tennis Stadium
Singles
1. #86 Michael Venus (LSU) def. #78 Lucas Jovita (USF), 6-4, 6-3
2. Jan Zelezny (LSU) def. Mahmoud Hamed (USF), 7-5, 6-4
3. Jamal Adderley (USF) def. Julien Gauthier (LSU), 6-2, 2-6, 6-4
4. Thomas Estrada (USF) def. James Cluskey (LSU), 2-6, 7-5, 6-3
5. Kevin Dessauer (LSU) def. Michael Nusslein (USF), 6-0, 4-6, 5-1 (ret.)
6. Sebastian Carlsson (LSU) def. Diego Toledo (USF), 7-5, 7-6 (8-6)
Doubles
1. James Cluskey/Michael Venus (LSU) def. Daniel Daudt/Thomas Estrada (USF), 8-1
2. Lucas Jovita/Diego Toledo (USF) def. Colt Gaston/Jan Zelezny (LSU), 9-7
3. Sebastian Carlsson/Kevin Dessauer (LSU) def. Jamal Adderley/Michael Nusslein (USF), 8-5
Match Notes:
South Florida 9-3, 2-0; National ranking #34
LSU 7-3, 2-2; National ranking #26
Order of finish: Doubles (1,2,3); Singles (1,2,3,6,5,4)