TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — The LSU men’s tennis team lost a close matchup with 19th-ranked Louisville by a 4-2 margin on Friday at the ITA Kick-Off Weekend hosted at Florida State’s Scott Speicher Tennis Center.
Tiger tandem Sebastian Carlsson and Stefan Szacinski clinched the doubles point for LSU after edging out the No. 33 duo of Alejandro Calligari and Robert Hall, 9-8 (7-0).
LSU showed a strong start in singles, with sophomore Mark Bowtell first off the courts as he notched his first win over a nationally-ranked opponent with a 6-2, 6-3 score against No. 81 Andrew Carter.
The early momentum, however, was not enough to upend the Cardinals as they took the next four singles courts to win the match.
“We played well in spots in, and we played like a very young team in spots,” LSU head coach Jeff Brown said. “I thought we did good considering we are down Julien Gauthier at the moment, and the team shows a lot of promise.”
Tiger freshman Stefan Szacinski held a 7-5, 4-2 mark over Alejandro Calligari at the time Louisville clinched the match.
LSU’s next matchup at the ITA Kick-Off Weekend is slated for Saturday against the loser of the Florida State and Wisconsin match at a time yet to be determined due to inclement weather in the area.
#19 Louisville 4, #29 LSU 2
ITA Kick-Off Weekend
Jan. 29-30, 2009
Tallahassee, Fla.
Scott Speicher Tennis Center
Jan. 29
Singles
1. #46 Austen Childs (UL) def. #97 Sebastian Carlsson (LSU), 6-4, 7-5
2. #84 Simon Childs (UL) def. #26 Neal Skupski (LSU), 6-3, 6-4
3. Victor Maksimcuk (UL) def. Olivier Borsos (LSU), 6-3, 6-2
4. Mark Bowtell (LSU) def. #81 Andrew Carter (UL), 6-2, 6-3
5. Stefan Szacinski (LSU) vs. Alejandro Calligari (UL), 7-5, 4-2, unf.
6. Robert Hall (UL) def. James Turbervill (LSU), 6-4, 6-4
Doubles
1. Anderson/Skupski (LSU) def. S. Childs/Maksimcuk (UL), 8-5
2. Carlsson/Szacinski (LSU) def. #33 Calligari/Hall (UL), 9-8 (7-0)
3. A. Childs/Gabriel (UL) def. Borsos/Bowtell (LSU), 8-4
Order of finish: Doubles (3,1,2); Singles (4,2,3,6,1)