COLUMBUS, Ohio — The 9th-ranked LSU duo of Michael Venus and Neal Skupski remained undefeated as 14th ranked LSU fell to No.3 Ohio State 7-0 on Sunday at the OSU Varsity Tennis Center.
Venus and Skupski notched the only victory for the Tigers and pushed their record to 4-0 in the dual season as the Tiger tandem was first off the courts with an 8-5 victory over Ohio State’s Justin Kronauge and Steven Moneke. Although the momentum was in LSU’s favor, Ohio State turned the tide to grasp the doubles point.
“We played a pretty close doubles point, but we still have some work to do there,” LSU head coach Jeff Brown said. “They were tough in singles and certainly at home they are difficult to do well against, but we know we have along way to go and a lot do.”
Ohio State (11-1) had a solid campaign in singles and marked six victories, but LSU freshman Mark Bowtell had a strong performance against No. 82 Shuhei Uzawa, taking his match into a super tiebreaker.
After Bowtell dropped the first set to Uzawa 6-0, the LSU freshman battled back to a 7-5 second-set mark. In the super tiebreaker, 83rd-ranked Uzawa proved too much for Bowtell as he posted a 10-4 mark to win the match.
LSU returns to action on Feb. 28 as the Tigers take on UL-Lafayette and New Orleans in Baton Rouge at W.T. “Dub” Robinson Stadium. The Tigers and Ragin’ Cajuns will square off in a 1 p.m. match before LSU takes on New Orleans at 5 p.m.
LSU vs. Ohio State
Feb. 22, 2009
Columbus, Ohio
#3 Ohio State 7, #14 Louisiana State 0
Singles
1. #22 Steven Moneke (OSU) def. #5 Michael Venus (LSU) – 6-2, 6-3
2. #4 Bryan Koniecko (OSU) def. Neal Skupski (LSU) – 6-1, 6-3
3 #23 Justin Kronauge (OSU) def. James Cluskey (LSU) – 6-2, 6-1
4. Matt Allare (OSU) def. Julien Gauthier (LSU) – 6-3, 7-5
5. #63 Balazs Novak (OSU) def. Sebastian Carlsson (LSU)- 6-2, 6-4
6. #82 Shuhei Uzawa (OSU) def. Mark Bowtell (LSU) – 6-0, 5-7, 1-0 (10-4)
Order of Finish: 2, 1, 4, 3, 5, 6
Doubles
1. #9 Neal Skupski/Michael Venus (LSU) def. Justin Kronauge/Steven Moneke (OSU) – 8-5
2. Bryan Koniecko/Shuhei Uzawa (OSU) def. #53 James Cluskey/Julien Gauthier (LSU) – 8-3
3. Matt Allare/Balazs Novak (OSU) def. Mark Bowtell/Sebastian Carlsson (LSU) – 8-5
Order of Finish: 1, 2, 3