TALLAHASSEE, FLA. — The 29th-ranked LSU men’s tennis team fell to 13th-ranked Florida State by a narrow 4-3 mark on Saturday at the Scott Speicher Tennis Center to close competition at the ITA Kick-Off Weekend.
“I feel that the match we played today was better than yesterday because there was improvement on every court,” LSU head coach Jeff Brown said.
After dropping the early doubles point, LSU moved in swift action on the singles courts. Freshman Stefan Szacinski picked up the first win for the Tigers on court five against Andres Bucaro, 6-1, 7-5.
James Turbervill put the second point on the board for LSU by taking court six against Anderson Reed. Turbervill edged out Reed in the first set by a 7-6 (7-4) mark before cruising to take the match with a 6-1 second-set score.
Turbervill’s win boosted LSU to a 2-all tie with Florida State.
The Seminoles jumped back into the lead after sophomore Neal Skupski fell in a three-set standoff against 111th-ranked Vahid Mirzadeh, 6-1, 5-7, 6-1.
Another three-set match would deal the final blow to LSU after Sebastian Carlsson made an impressive run, but came up short on court one against 27th-ranked Jean- Yves Aubone, 4-6, 6-4, 6-1.
LSU (0-2) returns to action against 34th-ranked Rice (3-0) on the road Feb. 5 at Jake Hess Tennis Stadium in a 1:30 p.m. CST matchup.
#13 Florida State 4, # 29 LSU 2
ITA Kick-Off Weekend
Jan. 29-30, 2010
Tallahassee, Fla.
Scott Speicher Tennis Center
Singles
1. #27 Jean-Yves Aubone (FSU) def. Sebastian Carlsson (LSU), 4-6, 6-4, 6-1
2. #111 Vahid Mirzadeh (FSU) def. #26 Neal Skupski (LSU), 6-1, 5-7, 6-1
3. #23 Clint Bowles (FSU) def. Cody Loup (LSU), 6-2, 6-0
4. Mark Bowtell (LSU) vs. Connor Smith (FSU), unf.
5. Stefan Szacinski (LSU) def. Andres Bucaro (FSU) def. 6-1, 7-5
6. James Turbervill (LSU) def. Anderson Reed (FSU) 7-6 (4), 6-2
Doubles
1. No. 31 Mirzadeh/Smith (FSU) def. Anderson/Skupski (LSU), 8-1
2. Aubone/Bowles (FSU) vs. Carlsson/Szacinski (LSU), unf.
3. Reed/Bucaro (FSU) def. Borsos/Bowtell (LSU), 8-5
Order of finish: Singles (3, 5, 6, 1); Doubles (1,3)
Feb. 5
LSU vs. Rice, 1:30 p.m.