BATON ROUGE — Juniors James Cluskey and Michael Venus of the 18th-ranked LSU men’s tennis team appeared at No. 14 in the final national double rankings, the Intercollegiate Tennis Association announced Saturday.
Venus and senior Jan Zelezny also appeared in the final singles rankings. Venus earned a No. 31 billing, while Zelezny appeared at No. 110.
In the Southeast Regional rankings, Cluskey and Venus appeared at No. 4 in doubles, while Venus and Zelezny earned singles rankings of No. 10 and No. 27, respectively.
Cluskey and Venus earned their top-15 ranking despite only playing together since January. The Tiger tandem posted an impressive 16-6 record and captured five victories over ranked duos. The LSU pair reached the NCAA Doubles Tournament but fell to the 11th-ranked team of Billy Heiser and Ryan Rowe of Illinois, 2-6, 6-3, 6-4, in the first round.
Venus began his LSU career in January and notched 14 singles victories while playing among the top two spots. The first-team All-SEC selection captured eight wins against ranked opponents, including three in the top-30. Venus reached the NCAA Singles Tournament but fell to 18th-ranked Arnau Brugues of Tulsa, 6-3, 6-2, in the opening round.
Zelezny joined the Tigers at the beginning of the 2006-07 season after transferring from Colorado. The Czech Republic native compiled a 20-18 record this season and notched four wins against ranked opponents.