Match 2: LSU 4, Rice 0
BATON ROUGE — The 28th-ranked LSU men’s tennis team defeated No. 34 Rice, 4-0, on Friday at W.T. “Dub” Robinson Stadium to advance to the second round of the NCAA Tournament where they will take on Ole Miss.
LSU (11-11) edged out Rice for the early doubles point by a close 9-7 mark on courts one and three.
LSU senior duo Jonathan Tragardh and James Cluskey fell behind and were unable to recover with Rice’s Bruno Rosa and Isamu Tachibana taking the first doubles match, 8-4.
On court three, LSU’s Sebastian Carlsson and Julien Gauthier faced a 6-4 deficit to Sam Garforth-Bles and Christian Saravia. The sophomore duo fought back to tie the match at 6-all and then used the momentum to take the match with a 9-7 mark.
The victory on court three poised the Tigers to take the doubles point as second-ranked Michael Venus and Neal Skupski squared off with 55th-ranked Christoph Mϋller and Tobias Schiel. LSU’s premier duo moved from a 7-all mark to take the next two games, blazing the path to their sixth straight victory with a 9-7 mark.
LSU carried the momentum into singles as it took three matches in straight sets.
“The doubles point proved to be a very big point for us,” LSU head coach Jeff Brown said. “It really set the table for us, including momentum we could take into singles. We got off to a good start by winning four first sets in singles and continued into straight-set victories allowing us to conserve energy for tomorrow.”
Venus, seventh-ranked in singles, gave the Tigers their first win as he cruised to victory over 46th-ranked Rosa, 6-2, 6-3, for his 19th victory over a nationally-ranked opponent.
Skupski was the next off the courts for LSU, knocking off Tobias Schiel, 6-1, 6-2.
Gauthier dealt the final blow to the Owls, defeating Garforth-Bles, 7-5, 6-1, and pushing the overall match score to 4-0, ending Rice’s season at 17-11.
Next up, LSU faces the No. 2 team in the nation as the Tigers and Rebels squares off at 1 p.m CDT.
Ole Miss (25-2) defeated Southwestern Athletic Conference Champion Alcorn State by a 4-0 mark in the first match of the day at the Dub to move into the second round of NCAA competition.
The match will mark the third time that LSU and Ole Miss will face off this season. The Tigers own a 43-14 record over the Rebels, but it was Ole Miss that emerged victorious in the regular-season meeting and Southeastern Conference Tournament quarterfinals.
As the two teams square off so will the top two doubles teams in the nation as second-ranked Venus and Skupski will line up across from top-ranked Jonas Berg and Bram ten Berge.
Berg also posts as the No. 16 singles players in addition to his doubles rankings. Devin Britton joins Berg in the national rankings at No. 30, as does Kalle Norberg at No. 40, respectfully.
The two SEC teams will square off in at 1 p.m. on Saturday to decide who moves to the NCAA round of 16 at Texas A&M.
#28 LSU 4, #34 Rice 0
May 08, 2009 at W.T. “Dub” Robinson Stadium
Singles competition
1. #7 Michael Venus (LSU) def. #46 Bruno Rosa (RICE) 6-2, 6-3
2. #51 Christoph Muller (RICE) vs. James Cluskey (LSU) no result
3. Neal Skupski (LSU) def. Tobias Schiel (RICE) 6-1, 6-3
4. Isamu Tachibana (RICE) vs. Sebastian Carlsson (LSU) no result
5. Julien Gauthier (LSU) def. Sam Garforth-Bles (RICE) 7-5, 6-1
6. Mark Bowtell (LSU) vs. Christian Saravia (RICE) 4-6, 2-5, unfinished
Doubles competition
1. #2 Michael Venus/Neal Skupski (LSU) def. #55 Christoph Muller/Tobias Schiel (RICE) 9-7
2. Bruno Rosa/Isamu Tachibana (RICE) def. James Cluskey/Jonathan Tragardh (LSU) 8-4
3. Sebastian Carlsson/Julien Gauthier (LSU) def. Sam Garforth-Bles/Christian Saravia (RICE) 9-7
Match Notes:
Rice 17-11; National ranking #34
LSU 11-11; National ranking #28
Order of finish: Doubles (2,3,1); Singles (1,3,5)
Match 1: Ole Miss 4, Alcorn St. 0
BATON ROUGE — The second-ranked Ole Miss men’s tennis team won its 18th straight match of the season by defeating Alcorn State, 4-0, Friday in the first round of the NCAA Tournament at LSU’s W. T. “Dub” Robinson Stadium.
Ole Miss (25-2) wasted no time in doubles as the Rebels’ Kalle Norberg and Otto Sauer defeated Alcorn State’s Alejandro Dominguez and Yanick Shearron-Hawkins 8-0 on court three.
The Rebels moved ahead 1-0 in the match as they clinched the doubles point on court two when Devin Britton and Tucker Vorster beat the Braves’ Anton Krutkin and Alexandr Lidzar 8-1.
The match on court one was unfinished between Ole Miss’ No. 1-ranked doubles team of Jonas Berg and Bram ten Berge and Alcorn State’s Pushpendra Rajpurohit and Winfried Weinbeer.
In singles, Ole Miss moved ahead 2-0 after Chris Thiemann defeated Rajpurohit 6-0, 6-1 on court six, and the Rebels increased the lead to 3-0 when 40th-ranked Norberg beat Lidzar 6-2, 6-0.
The Rebels clinched the match on court five when Marcel Thiemann knocked off the Braves’ Alejandro Dominguez 6-3, 6-0.
“The guys have done a great job all year long, and they know that if they are not at their best against any team they can lose. They take that approach into every match, and I think you saw that today,” Ole Miss head coach Billy Chadwick said. “Whichever team we play tomorrow, if we don’t bring our ?A’ game we are in trouble.”
Alcorn State, the SWAC champions, finished the season with a 9-11 record.
Ole Miss will play the winner of the match between LSU and Rice Saturday at 1 p.m. CDT at Dub Robinson Stadium.
#2 Ole Miss 4, Alcorn State 0
May 8, 2009 at Baton Rouge, La. (W.T. “Dub” Robinson Stadium)
Singles
1. #16 Jonas Berg (OM) vs. Anton Krutkin (ASU) 6-0, 5-3, unfinished
2. #30 Devin Britton (OM) vs. Winfried Weinbeer (ASU) 6-1, 2-5, unfinished
3. #40 Kalle Norberg (OM) def. Alexandr Lidzar (ASU) 6-2, 6-0
4. Otto Sauer (OM) vs. Yanick Shearron-Hawkins (ASU) 6-2, 2-0, unfinished
5. Marcel Thiemann (OM) def. Alejandro Dominguez (ASU) 6-3, 6-0
6. Chris Thiemann (OM) def. Pushpendra Rajpurohit (ASU) 6-0, 6-1
Doubles
1. #1 Jonas Berg/Bram ten Berge (OM) vs. Pushpendra Rajpurohit/Winfried Weinbeer (ASU) 7-1, unfinished
2. Devin Britton/Tucker Vorster (OM) def. Anton Krutkin/Alexandr Lidzar (ASU) 8-1
3. Kalle Norberg/Otto Sauer (OM) def. Alejandro Dominguez/Yanick Shearron-Hawkins (ASU) 8-0
Match Notes:
Ole Miss 25-2; National ranking #2
Alcorn State 9-11
Order of finish: Doubles (3,2); Singles (6,3,5)