BATON ROUGE — Freshman Sebastian Carlsson of the 19th-ranked LSU men’s tennis team gave his senior teammates a senior day to remember Sunday as he clinched LSU’s biggest win of the season Sunday against eighth-ranked Florida, 4-3, at the W.T. “Dub” Robinson Tennis Stadium.
The Tigers (11-6, 4-4, SEC) won the doubles point for the 13th time out of their 17 matches and captured wins from Carlsson, Kevin Dessauer and Michael Venus in singles to snap the Gators (11-5, 6-2 SEC) four-match conference win streak.
Venus picked up the biggest win of his career by knocking off third-ranked Greg Ouellette in straight sets on court one to set Carlsson up for the clinch.
Carlsson outlasted Corace in the first set, 6-4, but struggled in the second as he fell by a 6-2 score. With LSU and Florida tied at 3-all, Carlsson dominated the final set and won by a 6-1 score to give LSU the upset victory.
“It was an amazing feeling to get the clinch,” Carlsson said. “He (Corace) looked really nervous during the match. He kept asking his coaches what the score of the match was. I just focused on every point and tried to keep every ball in.”
LSU head coach Jeff Brown said Sunday’s win was the “best tennis” the Tigers have played all season.
“This was a high-level match and our team has been so close to having its breakthrough win this year” Brown said. “For our signature victory to come on senior day made it more special.”
“Sebastian wanted to play his best for our seniors and he emulated the same type of competitiveness our seniors have shown over the past five years. His clinch just shows the character he has of being able to handle the pressure of the situation and still get the win.”
In doubles, Carlsson and senior Jan Zelezny faced little competition on court three as they routed the Florida duo of Geoffery Barton and Tyler Hochwalt, 8-3.
LSU’s top tandem of James Cluskey and Venus finished the regular season a perfect 10-0 at home and clinched the doubles point for the Tigers by defeating Jeff Dadamo and Ouellette, 8-3.
On court two, LSU’s senior pair of Dessauer and Colt Gaston trailed 5-2 in the early goings of their match against Nestor Briceno and Alex Lacroix. The Tiger tandem showed great bounce-back ability by taking three straight games to set the score at 5-all. The two SEC duos split the next four games to put the match in a tiebreaker. The Gators prevailed in the extra period by winning the tiebreaker, 8-4, to prevent the LSU doubles sweep.
After doubles, LSU took time to honor its three seniors ? Dessauer, Gaston and Zelezny. The senior Tigers received framed action photos and a standing ovation from the packed “Dub.”
“Our three seniors have meant a lot to this program and they have done so many positive things on the court, in the classroom and with the community,” Brown commented. “They have done a great job of leading this team and helping the young guys”.
In singles, Florida tied the scored on court three when 53rd-ranked Lacroix defeated Gaston, 6-3, 6-3.
Captain Dessauer finished off his senior day by ending the regular season with an unblemished 10-0 record at home by breezing past Dadamo in straight sets, 6-1, 6-4. The second-team All-SEC selection only lost four sets at home this season.
Venus held a 2-1 lead in his first set against Ouellette when he won four out of the next six games to take the first set, 6-3, Down 2-1 in the second set, Venus regained the momentum by taking the next there games for a 4-1 lead. Ouellette won two of the next three games to cut Venus’ lead to 5-4. On serve and up 40-15, Venus aced the four-time ITA All-American to get the crucial win. Venus owns five wins against ranked opponents this season.
Florida tied the score at 3-all with wins on courts five and two before Carlsson clinched the LSU victory.
The Tigers will be on the road next weekend when they travel to Mississippi to take on Mississippi State on Friday and Ole Miss on Sunday
#19 LSU 4, #8 Florida 3
March 30, 2008 at Baton Rouge, La.
W.T.”Dub” Robinson Tennis Stadium
Singles
1. #74 Michael Venus (LSU) def. #3 Greg Ouellette (UF), 6-3, 6-4
2. Nestor Briceno (UF) def. #92 Jan Zelezny (LSU), 6-2, 6-1
3. #53 Alex Lacroix (UF) def. Colt Gaston (LSU), 6-3, 6-3
4. Kevin Dessauer (LSU) def. Jeff Dadamo (UF), 6-1, 6-4
5. Tyler Hochwalt (UF) def. James Cluskey (LSU), 6-2, 7-6 (7-3)
6. Sebastian Carlsson (LSU) def. Erik Corace (UF), 6-4, 2-6, 6-1
Doubles
1. James Cluskey/Michael Venus (LSU) def. Jeff Dadamo/Greg Ouellette (UF), 8-3
2. Nestor Briceno/Alex Lacroix (UF) def. Kevin Dessauer/Colt Gaston (LSU), 8-7, (7-4)
3. Sebastian Carlsson/Jan Zelezny (LSU) def. Geoffery Barton/Tyler Hochwalt (UF), 8-3
Match Notes:
Florida 11-5, 6-2; National ranking #8
LSU 11-6.4-4; National ranking #19
Order of finish: Doubles (3,1,2); Singles (3,4,1,5,2,6)