BATON ROUGE — The 32nd-ranked LSU men’s tennis team garnered the doubles point, but fell short in singles as the Tigers lost to the Ole Miss Rebels by a 5-2 mark in W.T. Robinson Stadium on Friday.
LSU (7-10, 2-7 SEC) jumped off to a strong start against the second-ranked team. To begin doubles, each LSU duo captured the first point on its respective court and each match held close to the finish. LSU senior duo James Cluskey and Jonathan Tragardh fell on court two to Ole Miss’ Devin Britton and Tucker Vorster, 8-6, for Ole Miss to take the first match, but the Tigers fought back.
At the time Cluskey and Tragardh fell, sophomore duo Sebastian Carlsson and Julien Gauthier were returning from a 5-4 deficit to Kalle Norberg and Otto Sauer on court three. The LSU duo captured the next four points to take the match, 8-5, and push the doubles decision to court one, where two top-10 teams battled to claim the early point.
LSU’s eighth-ranked duo of Michael Venus and Neal Skupski led Ole Miss’ second-ranked team of Jonas Berg and Bram ten Berge 7-5 as Carlsson and Gauthier claimed their victory. Venus and Skupski took the next point to give the lead to LSU.
“The doubles point really bodes well for us to be able to start the match in that position for the second match in a row,” LSU head coach Jeff Brown said.
Ole Miss (19-2, 9-0 SEC) claimed the early advantage in singles by taking the first three matches, putting the Tigers on their heels. A heartbreaking fourth loss on court four for Skupski to ten Berge in the third set clinched the match for the Rebels.
“There aren’t many teams that will present a better singles line up than Ole Miss,” Brown said. “They were able to turn the momentum back with the three quick singles victories, but we did a good job of still giving ourselves a chance on the other courts. We just weren’t able to finish on courts four and five.”
At the time of the clinch, both Julien Gauthier and James Cluskey were still battling for LSU on the courts.
LSU’s Gauthier fell on court five in a super-tiebreaker. Gauthier split the first two sets with Sauer, but after notching a 10-1 super-tiebreaker mark, Sauer took the match.
Cluskey won his biggest match of the season at court two against 29th-ranked Britton to close out the overall match. In a three-set victory ,the 6-6 senior dropped the first set to Britton by a close 7-6 margin before taking the last two sets, 7-6 (7-1), 7-5.
“Today was a good win for James,” Brown said. “He’s won his last two matches and it’s great for him to build his confidence to go forward.”
In moving forward, LSU next faces 69th-ranked Mississippi State. The Tigers and Bulldogs square off Sunday in a 1 p.m. match at W.T. Robinson Stadium.
#2 Ole Miss 5, #32 LSU 2
Apr 10, 2009
W.T. Robinson Stadium
Singles competition
1. #23 Jonas Berg (UM) def. #6 Michael Venus (LSU) 6-1, 6-2
2. James Cluskey (LSU) def. #29 Devin Britton (UM) 5-7, 7-6 (7-1), 7-5
3. #37 Kalle Norberg (UM) def. Sebastian Carlsson (LSU) 6-0, 6-2
4. Bram ten Berge (UM) def. Neal Skupski (LSU) 0-6, 7-5, 7-5
5. Otto Sauer (UM) def. Julien Gauthier (LSU) 6-7, 7-6, 1-0 (10-1)
6. Chris Thiemann (UM) def. Mark Bowtell (LSU) 6-3, 6-2
Doubles competition
1. #8 Michael Venus/Neal Skupski (LSU) def. #2 Jonas Berg/Bram ten Berge (UM) 8-4
2. Devin Britton/Tucker Vorster (UM) def. Jonathan Tragardh/James Cluskey (LSU) 8-6
3. Sebastian Carlsson/Julien Gauthier (LSU) def. Kalle Norberg/Otto Sauer (UM) 8-5
Match Notes:
Order of finish: Doubles (2,3,1); Singles (1,6,3,4,2,5)