TULSA, Okla. — After completing the pre-qualifying rounds on Sunday, the LSU men’s tennis team is set to begin competition in the qualifying rounds at the D’Novo All- American on Monday at the Michael D. Case Tennis Center.
Senior James Cluskey is the only Tiger competing in the qualifying rounds. Freshman Neal Skupski made a hard run, but fell just short of advancing into the qualifying brackets. Skupski posted a 3-1 record in the pre-qualifying rounds, only falling to No. 11 seed Shuhei Uzawa of Ohio State in the fourth and final round.
“Neal’s opponent was extremely solid,” head coach Jeff Brown said. “James will have a good match up and is looking forward to playing. He has worked as hard as ever since he’s been in college and is looking forward to getting the year started.”
Cluskey finished his junior campaign on a solid note with a 16-7 mark and is part of the No. 5 ranked preseason doubles duo along with teammate Michael Venus.
The 6-6 senior will take on No. 15 seed Robin Fahgen of SMU at 12:30 p.m. on Monday.
D’Novo All- American Pre-Qualifying Round
Tulsa, Okla.
Oct. 3-5, 2008
All Times Central
Fourth Round
Shuhei Uzawa (Ohio State) def. Neal Skupski (LSU), 6-2, 6-0
Qualifying Round
Oct. 6
James Cluskey (LSU) vs. Robin Fahgen (SMU), 12:30 p.m.