HOUSTON — The 33rd-ranked LSU men’s tennis team fell to 32nd-ranked Rice at the Jake Hess Tennis Stadium on Friday by a final 6-1 mark.
LSU (0-3) worked through doubles to produce a win on court one by Roger Anderson and Neal Skupski over Bruno Rosa and Oscar Podlewski 8-3 but failed to take the doubles point after Olivier Borsos and James Turbervill lost tight match on court three to Jon Chang and Isamu Tachibana, 9-7.
“We played better in spots, but we are still missing Julien Gauthier, especially in doubles,” LSU head coach Jeff Brown said. “I felt we had a chance to win on the road, and that’s all you can really ask for. We just have to respond better after losing the doubles point.”
Turbervill was the lone Tiger to notch a victory in singles when he overcame Chang with a straight-set win 7-6, 6-2 on court six.
LSU hits the road once again on Feb. 25 to take on top-five team Virginia. The Tigers and No. 2 Cavaliers will square off in a 1 p.m. CST match at the Boyd Tinsley Courts.
#32 Rice 6, #33 LSU 1
Feb. 5, 2010
Jake Hess Tennis Stadium
Houston, Texas
Singles
1. #19 Bruno Rosa (Rice) def. #26 Neal Skupski, 6-1, 6-3
2. Oscar Podlewski (Rice) def. # 97Sebastian Carlsson (LSU), 6-2, 6-3
3. Michael Nusslein (Rice) def. Olivier Borsos (LSU), 6-2, 6-3
4 Isamu Tachibana (Rice) def. Mark Bowtell (LSU), 6-4, 6-1
5. Sam Garforth-Bles (Rice) def. Stefan Szacinski (LSU), 7-6, 6-3
6. James Turbervill (LSU) def. Jon Chang (Rice), 7-6, 6-2
Doubles
1. Anderson/Skupski (LSU) def. Rosa/Podlewski (Rice), 8-3
2. Saravia/Nuesslein (Rice) def. Carlsson/Szacinski (LSU), 8-5
3. Chang/Tachibana (Rice) def. Borsos/Turbervill (LSU), 9-7
Order of finish: Singles (1,3,4,2,6,5); Doubles (1,2,3)