HOUSTON – LSU men’s tennis sophomore Stefan Szacinski earned a spot in the flight A singles final at the Rice Fall Invitational at Jake Hess Stadium on Saturday.
Szacinski took down Texas’ Sudanwa Sitaram 3-6, 7-5, 6-0 in the semifinals to clinch the finals berth. Szacinski will face Texas’ Daniel Whitehead tomorrow at noon (CT) in the championship match.
“That was a high caliber win for Stefan,” said LSU head coach Jeff Brown. “His great conditioning paid off in the end of the second and third sets.”
The win marked the second straight year Szacinski advanced to the finals at the Rice Invitational. The Adelaide, Australia, native clinched a spot in the flight B finals last year, but fell to Southern Mississippi’s Darren Walsh.
Earlier in the day, senior Mark Bowtell and sophomore James Turbervill notched victories in the consolation bracket. Bowtell defeated Isamu Tachibana of Rice 6-1, 6-7, 6-3 in flight A, while Turbervill took down Texas A&M-Corpus Christi’s James Langford 6-1, 6-2 in flight B.
“It was good for Turbervill and Bowtell to get in the win column,” Brown said. “We are looking forward to getting back on the court tomorrow.”
The Tigers will be back on the court tomorrow morning with doubles at 9 a.m. and singles play to follow at 10 a.m. and noon.
Rice Invitational
Oct. 1-3
Houston, Texas
Jake Hess Tennis Stadium
Singles
Flight A
Stefan Szacinski (LSU) def. Sudanwa Sitaram (Texas), 3-6, 7-5, 6-0
Mark Bowtell (LSU) def. Isamu Tachibana (Rice), 6-1, 6-7, 6-3
Flight B
Ben Chen (Texas) def. Julien Gauthier (LSU), 3-6, 6-3, 7-5
David Holiner (Texas) def. Tom Knights (LSU), 6-2, default
Flight C
James Turbervill (LSU) def. James Langford (Texas A&M-Corpus Christi), 6-1, 6-2
Oscar Podlewski (Rice) def. Olivier Borsos (LSU), 6-4, 6-1
Flight D
Christian Saravia (Rice) def. Cody Loup (LSU), 6-1, 6-4
Alex Hilliard (Texas) def. Roger Anderson (LSU), 6-2, 4-6, 7-5
Doubles
Flight A
Alex Hilliard/Daniel Whitehead (Texas) def. Roger Anderson/Mark Bowtell (LSU), 8-3
Harry Fowler/Peter Frank (Rice) def. Stefan Szacinski/Tom Knights (LSU), 8-4
Flight B
James Langford/Laurent Montoisy (Texas A&M-Corpus Christi) def. Julien Gauthier/James Turbervill (LSU), 9-7
David Subirats/Giamanco Sano (Texas-Austin) def. Cody Loup/Olivier Borsos (LSU), 8-6