BATON ROUGE — The 35th-ranked LSU men’s tennis team upset No. 27 University of South Florida, 4-3, in a heated match on Wednesday afternoon in W.T. Robinson Stadium.
“It was an intense, physical and emotional match,” LSU head coach Jeff Brown said. “It is more fun to win those, but on the other end, I’m glad to see everyone is improving and able to remain composed under pressure.”
LSU (6-5, 1-3 SEC) had a strong performance early in doubles to set the match in motion for the Tigers.
LSU duo James Cluskey and Jonathan Tragardh picked up a win on court three in doubles, giving LSU advantage as they defeated USF’s Yannick Yoshizawa and Wael Kilani, 8-5.
After LSU claimed its first doubles victory, the University of South Florida answered with a victory of their own as Mahmoud Hamed and Jamal Adderley defeated sophomore duo Sebastian Carlsson and Julien Gauthier by a narrow 8-6 margin.
With LSU splitting, the doubles decision fell to court one, where two nationally-ranked teams, No. 12 Michael Venus and Neal Skupski of LSU and No. 27 Thomas Estrada and Lucas Jovita of USF, faced off. The Tiger tandem jumped to the lead and held the momentum to capture the match on court one and the doubles point for LSU with an 8-4 mark over Estrada and Jovita.
Upon the Tigers clinching the doubles point, Jovita incurred a penalty after launching a ball toward the crowd, resulting in a point penalty to carry into singles competition. In singles Jovita would face Venus once again on court one.
In the singles competition, USF tied the overall match score with a victory on court four as sophomore Julien Gauthier fell to Jamal Adderley, 6-4, 6-3. The match would be one of two matches decided in straight sets, as each of the other Tigers fought into third sets.
LSU’s Mark Bowtell was the first to complete his third set and come off the court with a victory for LSU. The 6-4 freshman dropped the first set by a close 6-4 margin to USF’s Mark Oijaca, however, Bowtell turned the tide in his match, took the second set 6-4 and went on the win the match with a 6-1 mark in the third set.
Upon Bowtell claiming victory, USF took two matches. Cluskey fell on court three and Skupski on court two , but moments after USF took the 3-2 lead, LSU sophomore Carlsson tied the match with a 7-5, 7-6 victory over Estrada. The victory left the match decision to court one, where nationally-ranked players took center stage once again. Ninth-ranked Venus squared off against 70th-ranked Jovita. After Venus won the first set, 6-3, Jovita came back with a 6-4 mark in the second set.
As the third set began, Venus jumped ahead and never looked back as the 6-3 Orlando native cruised to a 6-1 victory to clinch the match for the Tigers, 4-3.
The victory pushes LSU’s series record against the University of South Florida to 8-0 and drops USF’s record to 9-5 on the season.
LSU returns to action on Saturday as the Tigers take on the No. 15 Texas A&M Aggies in a 1p.m. CDT match at the Mitchell Tennis Center.
#35 LSU 4, #27 UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH FLORIDA 3
University of South Florida vs LSU
Mar 18, 2009 at
W.T. “Dub” Robinson Stadium
Singles competition
1. #9 Michael Venus (LSU) def. #70 Lucas Jovita (USF) 6-3, 4-6, 5-1
2. #95 Wael Kilani (USF) def. Neal Skupski (LSU) 4-6, 6-2, 5-3
3. Mahmoud Hamed (USF) def. James Cluskey (LSU) 6-3, 2-6, 6-3
4. Jamal Adderley (USF) def. Julien Gauthier (LSU) 6-4, 6-3
5. Sebastian Carlsson (LSU) def. Thomas Estrada (USF) 7-5, 7-6 (9-7)
6. Mark Bowtell (LSU) def. Mark Oijaca (USF) 4-6, 6-4, 6-1
Doubles competition
1. #12 Michael Venus/Neal Skupski (LSU) def. #27 Thomas Estrada/Lucas Jovita (USF) 8-4
2. Mahmoud Hamed/Jamal Adderley (USF) def. Sebastian Carlsson/Julien Gauthier (LSU) 8-6
3. James Cluskey/Jonathan Tragardh (LSU) def. Yannick Yoshizawa/Wael Kilani (USF) 8-5
Match Notes:
University of South Florida 9-4; National ranking #27
LSU 6-5; National ranking #35
Order of finish: Doubles (3,2,1); Singles (4,6,3,2,5,1)